CN115918188A

CN115918188A - Method and apparatus for hybrid positioning measurement and reporting using different types of physical signals

Info

Publication number: CN115918188A
Application number: CN202180051326.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: A·马诺拉克斯; M·库马; S·耶拉玛利
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2020-08-27
Filing date: 2021-07-21
Publication date: 2023-04-04
Also published as: WO2022046325A1; US11460532B2; US20220065978A1; EP4204835A1

Abstract

A user equipment uses Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and non-PRS signals for positioning measurements. The non-PRS signals may be downlink and sidelink signals, where the non-PRS are downlink or sidelink signals transmitted for positioning independent purposes. Positioning assistance data is provided to the UE, the positioning assistance data associating non-PRS signals with PRS-IDs (1302). The association of the non-PRS signals with the PRS-ID may be provided by a location server or a serving base station. After performing positioning measurements using non-PRS signals (1304), the UE reports measurement information that uses the PRS-ID to identify the non-PRS signals used to generate the positioning measurements (1306).

Description

Method and apparatus for hybrid positioning measurement and reporting using different types of physical signals

Priority requirements according to 35U.S.C. § 119

U.S. provisional application No.63/071,212 entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR HYBRID position MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF PHYSICAL SIGNALS" AND U.S. non-provisional application No.17/357,857 entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR HYBRID position MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF PHYSICAL SIGNALS" filed on 8, 27, 2020, 35USC 119 AND filed on 24, 2021, 6, 24, are both hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

Background

FIELD：

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to estimating a location of a mobile device, and more particularly to notifying a mobile device to assist in enabling a position fix of the mobile device when broadcasted positioning assistance data has changed.

Information：

The location of a mobile device, such as a cellular telephone, may be useful or essential for several applications including emergency calling, navigation, direction finding, asset tracking, and internet services. The location of the mobile device may be estimated based on information collected from various systems. For example, in a cellular network implemented according to 4G (also referred to as fourth generation) Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access or 5G (also referred to as fifth generation) "new radio" (NR), a base station may transmit Positioning Reference Signals (PRS). The transmission of assistance data to the mobile device to assist in acquiring and measuring signals and/or computing a position estimate from these measurements may be useful for acquiring PRSs for position determination. A mobile device that requires PRSs transmitted by different base stations can deliver signal-based measurements to a location server, which can be part of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G core network (5 GCN), for use in calculating a location estimate for the mobile device. For example, a UE may generate positioning measurements such as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), and receive and transmit (RX-TX) time difference measurements from Downlink (DL) PRS, which may be used for various positioning methods such as time difference of arrival (TDOA), angle of departure (AOD), and multi-cell Round Trip Time (RTT). Alternatively, the mobile device may use various positioning methods to compute an estimate of its own position. Other positioning methods that may be used for a mobile device include the use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS, GLONASS or galileo, and the use of assisted GNSS (a-GNSS), where a network provides assistance data to the mobile device to assist the mobile device in acquiring and measuring GNSS signals and/or computing a position estimate from these GNSS measurements.

For example, positioning Reference Signals (PRS) are transmitted between non-positioning related signaling (e.g., control and communication related signaling) during periodically or dynamically assigned positioning occasions. Therefore, positioning using PRS is limited to positioning occasions. Improvements in positioning capabilities may be desirable.

SUMMARY

A user equipment uses Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and non-PRS signals for positioning measurements. The non-PRS signals may be downlink and sidelink signals, where the non-PRS are downlink or sidelink signals transmitted for positioning independent purposes. Positioning assistance data is provided to the UE, the positioning assistance data associating the non-PRS signal with the PRS-ID. The association of the non-PRS signals with the PRS-ID may be provided by a location server or a serving base station. After performing positioning measurements using the non-PRS signals, the UE reports measurement information that uses the PRS-ID to identify the non-PRS signals used to generate the positioning measurements.

In one implementation, a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for supporting positioning of the UE in a wireless network includes: receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information relating to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information relating to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID; performing positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using the non-PRS; and sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for the positioning measurement using the PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a User Equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of the UE in a wireless network, the UE comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in the wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-unrelated purpose, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID; performing positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using the non-PRS; and sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for the positioning measurement using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a User Equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of the UE in a wireless network, the UE comprising: means for receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information relating to Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and a second set of information relating to non-positioning reference signals (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for positioning-independent purposes, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID; means for performing positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using the non-PRS; and means for sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for the positioning measurement using the PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a User Equipment (UE) to support positioning of the UE in a wireless network, the program code comprising instructions to: receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-unrelated purpose, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID; performing positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using the non-PRS; and sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for the positioning measurement using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a method performed by a location server in a wireless network for supporting positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in the wireless network comprises: obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a PRS identifier (PRS-ID) list, and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID and performs downlink positioning measurements using the non-PRS; and receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a location server configured to support positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the location server comprising: an external interface configured to communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-unrelated purpose, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID and performs a downlink positioning measurement using the non-PRS; and receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a location server in a wireless network for supporting positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in the wireless network includes: means for obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a PRS identifier (PRS-ID) list, and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for positioning-independent purposes, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID and performs downlink positioning measurements using the non-PRS; and means for receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium including program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a location server in a wireless network to support positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in the wireless network, the program code comprising instructions to: obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-unrelated purpose, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID and performs a downlink positioning measurement using the non-PRS; and receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a method performed by a serving base station of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network for supporting positioning of the UE in the wireless network includes: sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message including an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a base station configured to support positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the base station comprising: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message including an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a serving base station of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network for supporting positioning of the UE in the wireless network includes: means for sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message comprising an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and means for transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

In one implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor of a serving base station of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network to support positioning of the UE in the wireless network, the program code comprising instructions to: sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message including an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description.

Brief Description of Drawings

The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless network structures in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a design of a base station and a User Equipment (UE), which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in fig. 1.

Fig. 4 illustrates a structure of an exemplary sequence of sub-frames for Positioning Reference Signals (PRS).

Fig. 5 illustrates various possible patterns for PRS resources.

Fig. 6A and 6B illustrate a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) configuration and an extended TRS configuration, respectively, in visual form.

Fig. 6C illustrates, in visual form, a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) in a 5G NR wireless network.

Fig. 6D shows an example channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration.

Fig. 7 illustrates a communication system in which a location server provides an association between a non-PRS and a PRS-ID to a UE in positioning assistance data.

Fig. 8 illustrates a communication system in which a serving base station provides an association between a non-PRS and a PRS-ID to a UE in positioning assistance data.

Fig. 9 is a message flow illustrating messaging between entities in a communication system in which non-PRS signals may be used for positioning measurements.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features implemented as a UE capable of supporting positioning using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a location server implemented to support positioning of a UE using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements.

Fig. 12 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a base station implemented to be capable of supporting positioning of a UE using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements.

Fig. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method performed by a UE for supporting positioning of the UE in a wireless network.

Fig. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method performed by a UE for supporting location of a location server in a wireless network.

Fig. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method performed by a UE for supporting positioning of base stations in a wireless network.

Detailed Description

Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for purposes of illustration. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

The words "exemplary" and/or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and/or "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

Those of skill in the art would understand that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, depending in part on the desired design, depending in part on the corresponding technology, and so forth.

Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in several different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to" perform the described action.

As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet, laptop, tracking device, wearable device (e.g., smart watch, glasses, augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), internet of things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. The UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," "mobile device," or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect with external networks (such as the internet) and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), and so on.

A base station may operate in accordance with one of several RATs when in communication with a UE depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an Access Point (AP), a network node, a node B, an evolved node B (eNB), a New Radio (NR) node B (also known as a gNB), etc. Additionally, in some systems, the base station may provide pure edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, the base station may provide additional control and/or network management functionality. The communication link through which a UE sends signals to a base station is called an Uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which a base station sends signals to a UE is called a Downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may refer to an UL/reverse or DL/forward traffic channel.

The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmission point or to multiple physical transmission points that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical transmission point, the physical transmission point may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to a plurality of co-located physical transmission points, these physical transmission points may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where beamforming is employed by the base station). Where the term "base station" refers to a plurality of non-co-located physical transmission points, these physical transmission points may be Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) (remote base stations connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical transmission point may be the serving base station that receives the measurement report from the UE and the neighbor base station whose reference Radio Frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring.

To support positioning of UEs, two broad categories of location solutions have been defined: a control plane and a user plane. With Control Plane (CP) location, signaling related to positioning and positioning support can be carried over existing network (and UE) interfaces and using existing protocols dedicated to communicating signaling. Using User Plane (UP) position, protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) may be used as part of other data to carry signaling related to positioning and positioning support.

The third generation partnership project (3 GPP) has defined control plane location solutions for UEs using radio access according to the New Radio (NR) of the global system for mobile communications GSM (2G), universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) (3G), LTE (4G) and fifth generation (5G). These solutions are defined in the 3GPP Technical Specifications (TS) 23.271 and 23.273 (common part), 43.059 (GSM access), 25.305 (UMTS access), 36.305 (LTE access) and 38.305 (NR access). The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has similarly defined a UP location solution known as Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) which can be used to locate a UE accessing any of several radio interfaces supporting IP packet access, such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) in GSM, GPRS in UMTS, or IP access in LTE or NR.

Both CP and UP position solutions may employ a position server to support positioning. The location server may be part of or accessible from the serving or home network of the UE, or may simply be accessed through the internet or a local intranet. If positioning of the UE is required, the location server may initiate a session (e.g., a location session or SUPL session) with the UE and coordinate location measurements by the UE and determination of an estimated location of the UE. During a location session, a location server may request positioning capabilities of the UE (or the UE may provide these capabilities without a request), may provide assistance data to the UE (e.g., with or without a UE request), and may request location estimates or location measurements from the UE for various positioning techniques (e.g., for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), time difference of arrival (TDOA), angle of departure (AOD), round Trip Time (RTT), or multi-cell RTT (multi-RTT) and/or Enhanced Cell ID (ECID) positioning methods). Assistance data may be used by the UE to acquire and measure GNSS and/or PRS signals (e.g., by providing expected characteristics of these signals (such as frequency, expected time of arrival, signal coding, signal doppler)).

In a UE-based mode of operation, assistance data may additionally or alternatively be used by the UE to assist in determining a position estimate from the resulting position measurements (e.g., where the assistance data provides satellite ephemeris data in the case of GNSS positioning or base station position and other base station characteristics (such as PRS timing) in the case of terrestrial positioning using, for example, TDOA, aoD, multi-RTT, etc.).

In the UE-assisted mode of operation, the UE may return location measurements to a location server, which may determine an estimated location of the UE based on these measurements and possibly also based on other known or configured data, such as satellite ephemeris data for GNSS positioning or base station characteristics (including base station location and possibly PRS timing) in the case of terrestrial positioning using, for example, TDOA, aoD, multiple RTTs, etc.

In another standalone mode of operation, the UE may make location-related measurements without any positioning assistance data from the location server, and may further calculate a location or a change in location without any positioning assistance data from the location server. Positioning methods that may be used in standalone mode include GPS and GNSS (e.g., where the UE obtains satellite orbit data from data broadcast by the GPS and GNSS satellites themselves) and sensors.

In the case of 3GPP CP location, the location server may be an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) in the case of LTE access, a standalone SMLC (SAS) in the case of UMTS access, a Serving Mobile Location Center (SMLC) in the case of GSM access, or a Location Management Function (LMF) in the case of 5G NR access. In the case of OMA SUPL positioning, the location server may be a SUPL Location Platform (SLP), which may act as either: (i) A home SLP (H-SLP) (if in or associated with the home network of the UE or if a permanent subscription for location services is provided to the UE); (ii) Discovered SLPs (D-SLPs) (if in or associated with some other (non-home) network, or if not associated with any network); (iii) An emergency SLP (E-SLP) (in case positioning for emergency calls initiated by the UE is supported); or (iv) a visited SLP (V-SLP) (in case of being in or associated with the serving network or current local area of the UE).

During the location session, the location server and the UE may exchange messages defined according to some positioning protocol in order to coordinate the determination of the estimated location. Possible positioning protocols may include, for example, the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) defined by 3GPP in 3GPP TS 36.355 and the LPP extensions (LPPe) protocol defined by OMA in OMA TS OMA-TS-LPPe-V1_0, OMA-TS-LPPe-V1_1, and OMA-TS-LPPe-V2_ 0. LPP and LPPe protocols may be used in combination, where the LPP message contains an embedded LPPe message. The combined LPP and LPPe protocol may be referred to as LPP/LPPe. LPP and LPP/LPPe may be used to help support 3GPP control plane solutions for LTE or NR access, in which case LPP or LPP/LPPe messages are exchanged between the UE and the E-SMLC or between the UE and the LMF. LPP or LPPe messages may be exchanged between the UE and the E-SMLC via a serving Mobility Management Entity (MME) and a serving enodeb of the UE. LPP or LPPe messages may also be exchanged between the UE and the LMF via the UE's service access and mobility management function (AMF) and the serving NR nodeb (gNB). LPP and LPP/LPPe may also be used to help support OMA SUPL solutions for many types of wireless access supporting IP messaging, such as LTE, NR, and WiFi, where LPP or LPP/LPPe messages are exchanged between a SUPL Enabled Terminal (SET) (SET is a term for UE in SUPL) and a SLP, and may be transmitted within a SUPL message, such as a SUPL POS or SUPL POS INIT message.

A location server and a base station (e.g., an enodeb for LTE access) may exchange messages to enable the location server to: (i) Obtain positioning measurements for a particular UE from a base station, or (ii) obtain location information (such as location coordinates of antennas of the base station), cells supported by the base station (e.g., cell identities), cell timing of the base station, and/or parameters of signals transmitted by the base station (such as PRS signals) from base stations not associated with the particular UE. In the case of LTE access, LPP a (LPPa) protocols may be used to communicate such messages between a base station as an evolved node B and a location server as an E-SMLC. In the case of NR access, the NRPPA protocol may be used to communicate such messages between a base station as a g node B and a location server as an LMF. Note that the terms "parameter" and "information element" (IE) are synonymous and are used interchangeably herein.

During positioning using signaling in LTE and 5G NR, a UE typically acquires a dedicated positioning signal (referred to as a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS)) transmitted by a base station, which is used to generate desired measurements for supported positioning technologies. Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) are defined for 5G NR positioning to enable UEs to detect and measure more neighbor base stations or Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs). Several configurations are supported to enable various deployments (indoor, outdoor, sub 6, mmW). To support PRS beam operation, beam sweeping for PRS is additionally supported. Table 1 below illustrates a 3GPP release number (e.g., release 16 or release 15) that defines specific reference signals for various UE measurements and accompanying positioning techniques.

TABLE 1

However, in addition to PRS signals, the UE receives many other signals that are not intended for positioning. For example, the UE receives control and communication signals such as a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSCCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH). Additionally, the UE may receive downlink signals from the base station and sidelink signals from other UEs.

In an implementation, a UE may perform positioning measurements using non-PRS signals (e.g., using downlink or sidelink signals transmitted for purposes unrelated to positioning, such as SSBs, TRSs, CSI-RS, PDSCH, DM-RS, PDCCH, psch, or PSCCH). To support positioning using non-PRS signals, positioning assistance data may be provided that includes a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs) and associates the non-PRS signals with the PRS-IDs for positioning purposes. After the UE performs positioning measurements using non-PRS signals, measurement information may be reported that identifies which non-PRS signals are used for positioning measurements using PRS-IDs associated with the non-PRS signals. In some implementations, a location server may provide assistance data to the UE, while in other implementations, a serving base station may provide coordination with the location server and may provide assistance data associating, for example, at least non-PRS signals with PRS-IDs.

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100, which may also be referred to as a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. Base station 102 may include a macro cell base station (high power cellular base station) and/or a small cell base station (low power cellular base station). In an aspect, a macro cell base station may comprise an eNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or a gNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a 5G network), or a combination of both, and a small cell base station may comprise a femtocell, a picocell, a microcell, or the like.

The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or Next Generation Core (NGC)) over backhaul links 122 and to one or more location servers 172 over the core network 170. Base station 102 may perform functions related to, among other functions, communicating user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC/NGC) over backhaul links 134, which backhaul links 134 may be wired or wireless.

The base station 102 may be in wireless communication with the UE 104. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base station 102 in each coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a Physical Cell Identifier (PCID), a Virtual Cell Identifier (VCID)) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine Type Communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station in the sense that a carrier frequency may be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage area 110.

While the various geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, the small cell base station 102 'may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may also include home enbs (henbs) that may provide services to a restricted group known as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE104 may include UL (also known as reverse link) transmissions from UE104 to base station 102 and/or Downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmissions from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL than UL).

The wireless communication system 100 may further include a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Access Point (AP) 150 in communication with a WLAN Station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and/or the WLAN AP150 may perform a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) to determine whether the channel is available prior to communicating.

The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and/or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or 5G technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE/5G in unlicensed spectrum may boost coverage and/or increase capacity of an access network. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE unlicensed (LTE-U), licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, the mmW base station 180 operable in mmW frequencies and/or near mmW frequencies to be in communication with the UE 182. Extremely High Frequencies (EHF) are part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. The EHF has a range of 30GHz to 300GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. The radio waves in this frequency band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can extend down to 3GHz frequencies with a wavelength of 100 mm. The ultra-high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz to 30GHz, which is also known as a centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW/near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmission and/or reception) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it is to be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing RF signals in a particular direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, the network node broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device. To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node may control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that produces a beam of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, the RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while at the same time canceling out in the undesired direction to suppress radiation.

In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the antenna array and/or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level of) the RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain in other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is highest relative to the beam gain in that direction for all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) for the RF signal received from that direction.

In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which a wireless node (e.g., base station 102/180, UE 104/182) operates is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR 2). In multi-carrier systems (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell" and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as the "secondary carrier" or "secondary serving cell" or "SCell". In carrier aggregation, an anchor carrier is a carrier operating on a primary frequency (e.g., FR 1) utilized by the UE104/182 and on a cell in which the UE104/182 performs an initial Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels. The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR 2) that can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE104 and the anchor carrier, and which can be used to provide additional radio resources. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, e.g., UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104/182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE104/182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on the different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency/component carrier that a certain base station is using for communicating, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", and so forth may be used interchangeably.

For example, still referring to fig. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and/or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("scells"). The simultaneous transmission and/or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE104/182 to significantly increase its data transmission and/or reception rate. For example, two 20MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained by a single 20MHz carrier.

The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of fig. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one UE104 connected to one base station 102 (e.g., the UE 190 may thereby indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP150 (the UE 190 may thereby indirectly obtain WLAN-based internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may use any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE-direct (LTE-D), wiFi-direct (WiF)i-D)、

Etc.) to support.

The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE164, which UE164 may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and/or with the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more scells for the UE164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more scells for the UE 164.

Fig. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, the NGC 210 (also referred to as a "5 GC") may be functionally viewed as a control plane function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to a data network, IP routing, etc.) that operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the NGC 210, in particular to the control plane functions 214 and the user plane functions 212. In additional configurations, the eNB 224 may also connect to the NGC 210 via NG-C215 to the control plane function 214 and NG-U213 to the user plane function 212. Further, eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gnbs 222, while other configurations include both one or more enbs 224 and one or more gnbs 222. The gNB 222 or eNB 224 may communicate with a UE 204 (e.g., any UE depicted in fig. 1). Another optional aspect may include one or

more location servers

230a, 230b (sometimes collectively referred to as location servers 230) (which may correspond to location server 172) that may be in communication with control plane functions 214 and user plane functions 212, respectively, in the NGC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. Location server 230 may be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules that extend across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, the UE 204 being able to connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the NGC 210, and/or via the internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., in the new RAN 220).

Fig. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 250. For example, NGC 260 (also referred to as "5 GC") may be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, a User Plane Function (UPF) 262, a Session Management Function (SMF) 266, a SLP 268, and an LMF 270 that cooperatively operate to form a core network (i.e., NGC 260). A user plane interface 263 and a control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the NGC 260, in particular to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also connect to the NGC 260 via a control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and a user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Further, eNB 224 may communicate directly with gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223, whether or not having gNB direct connectivity with NGC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gnbs 222, while other configurations include both one or more ng-enbs 224 and one or more gnbs 222. The gNB 222 or eNB 224 may communicate with a UE 204 (e.g., any UE depicted in fig. 1). The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 over an N2 interface and with the UPF 262 over an N3 interface.

The functions of the AMF include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, session Management (SM) messaging between UE 204 and SMF 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, short Message Service (SMs) messaging between UE 204 and a Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 and receives intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In case of authentication based on UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF also include Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which are used by the SCM to derive access network-specific keys. The functionality of the AMF also includes location service management for administrative services, location service messaging between the UE 204 and a Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which may correspond to location server 172) and between the new RAN 220 and LMF 270, evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Furthermore, the AMF also supports the functionality of non-third generation partnership project (3 GPP) access networks.

The functions of the UPF include: serving as an anchor point for intra/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), serving as an interconnected external Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session point to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., UL/DL rate enforcement, reflective QoS tagging in DL), UL traffic verification (mapping of Service Data Flows (SDFs) to QoS flows), transport level packet tagging in UL and DL, DL packet buffering and DL data notification triggers, and sending and forwarding one or more "end tags" to the source RAN node.

The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address assignment and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF for routing traffic to the correct destination, control of the policy enforcement and QoS components, and downlink data notification. The interface that SMF 266 uses to communicate with AMF 264 is referred to as the N11 interface.

Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the NGC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. LMFs 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules that extend across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE 204, UE 204 being capable of connecting to LMF 270 via a core network, NGC 260, and/or via the internet (not illustrated).

Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of a design 300 of base stations 102 and UEs 104, which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in fig. 1. Base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 334a through 334T and UE104 may be equipped with R antennas 352a through 352R, where T ≧ 1 and R ≧ 1 in general.

At base station 102, a transmit processor 320 may receive data from a data source 312 for one or more UEs, select one or more Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCSs) for each UE based at least in part on a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS(s) selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmit processor 320 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-Static Resource Partitioning Information (SRPI), etc.) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. Transmit processor 320 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary Synchronization Signals (PSS) and Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS)). A Transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 330 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, the overhead symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T Modulators (MODs) 332a through 332T. Each modulator 332 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 332 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. T downlink signals from modulators 332a through 332T may be transmitted via T antennas 334a through 334T, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, a synchronization signal may be generated with position coding to convey additional information.

At UE104, antennas 352a through 352r may receive downlink signals from base station 102 and/or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 354a through 354r, respectively. Each demodulator 354 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 354 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 356 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 354a through 354R, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 358 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE104 to a data sink 360, and provide decoded control information and system information to a controller/processor 380. The channel processor may determine Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and so on. In some aspects, one or more components of the UE104 may be included in a housing.

On the uplink, at the UE104, a transmit processor 364 may receive and process data from a data source 362 and control information from a controller/processor 380 (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.). Transmit processor 364 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from transmit processor 364 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 366 if applicable, further processed by modulators 354a through 354r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to base station 102. At base station 102, the uplink signals from UE104, as well as other UEs, may be received by antennas 334, processed by demodulators 332, detected by a MIMO detector 336 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 338 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE 104. Receive processor 338 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 339 and the decoded control information to controller/processor 340. Base station 102 may include a communication unit 344 and communicate with network controller 389 via communication unit 344. Network controller 389 may include a communication unit 394, a controller/processor 390, and a memory 392.

Controller/processor 340 of base station 102, controller/processor 380 of UE104, controller 390 of network controller 389 (which may be location server 172), and/or any other component(s) of fig. 3 may perform one or more techniques associated with broadcasting positioning assistance data differentially, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, controller/processor 340 of base station 102, controller 390 of network controller 389, controller/processor 380 of UE104, and/or any other component(s) of fig. 3 may perform or direct the operation of, for example, processes 1300, 1400, and 1500 of fig. 13, 14, and 15, and/or other processes as described herein.

Memories

342, 382, and 392 may store data and program codes for base station 102, UE104, and network controller 389, respectively. In some aspects, memory 342 and/or memory 382 and/or memory 392 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores one or more instructions for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of base station 102, network controller 389, and/or UE104, may perform or direct the operations of, for example, processes 1300, 1400, and 1500 of fig. 13, 14, and 15, and/or other processes as described herein. A scheduler 346 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

As indicated above, fig. 3 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from the example described with respect to fig. 3.

Fig. 4 illustrates the structure of an exemplary subsequence sequence 400 having Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) positioning occasions, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The subframe sequence 400 may be applicable to the broadcast of PRS signals from base stations (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) or other network nodes. The subframe sequence 400 may be used in an LTE system, and the same or similar subframe sequences may be used in other communication technologies/protocols (such as 5G and NR). In fig. 4, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top. As shown in fig. 4, the downlink and uplink radio frames 410 may each have a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms). For a downlink Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode, in the illustrated example, the radio frame 410 is organized into ten subframes 412 each having a duration of 1 ms. Each subframe 412 includes two slots 414, each having, for example, a 0.5ms duration.

In the frequency domain, the available bandwidth may be divided into evenly spaced orthogonal subcarriers 416 (also referred to as "tones" or "bins"). For example, for a normal length Cyclic Prefix (CP) using, for example, a 15kHz spacing, subcarriers 416 may be grouped into groups of twelve (12) subcarriers. The resources of one OFDM symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain, represented as a block of the subframe 412, are referred to as Resource Elements (REs). Each grouping of 12 subcarriers 416 and 14 OFDM symbols is referred to as a Resource Block (RB), and in the above example, the number of subcarriers in a resource block may be written as

For a given channel bandwidth, the number of available resource blocks on each channel 422 (which is also referred to as the transmission bandwidth configuration 422) is represented as

For example, for the 3MHz channel bandwidth in the example above, the number of available resource blocks per channel 422 is determined by

It is given. Note that the frequency components of a resource block (e.g., 12 subcarriers) are referred to as a Physical Resource Block (PRB).

A base station may transmit a radio frame (e.g., radio frame 410) or other physical layer signaling sequence supporting PRS signals (i.e., downlink (DL) PRS) according to a frame configuration similar or identical to that shown in fig. 4, which may be measured and used for UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) positioning estimation. Other types of wireless nodes in a wireless communication network (e.g., distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), remote Radio Heads (RRHs), UEs, APs, etc.) may also be configured to transmit PRS signals configured in a manner similar (or identical) to that depicted in fig. 4.

The set of resource elements used to transmit PRS signals is referred to as "PRS resources. The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and can span N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within slot 414 in the time domain. For example, the cross-hatched resource elements in the slot 414 may be an example of two PRS resources. A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used to transmit PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource Identifier (ID). In addition, PRS resources in the set of PRS resources are associated with the same Transmit Receive Point (TRP). PRS resource IDs in a PRS resource set are associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (where the TRP may transmit one or more beams). Note that this does not have any implications as to whether the TRP and beam on which the signal is transmitted are known to the UE.

PRSs may be transmitted in special positioning subframes grouped into positioning occasions. A PRS occasion is one example of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a consecutive slot) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. Each periodically repeating time window may include a group of one or more consecutive PRS occasions. Each PRS occasion may include a number N _PRS A number of consecutive positioning subframes. PRS positioning occasions for base station supported cells may be spaced (by a number T) _PRS Milliseconds or subframes) occur periodically. As an example, fig. 4 illustrates the periodicity of positioning occasions, where N _PRS Equal to 4 (418), and T _PRS Greater than or equal to 20 (420). In some aspects, T _PRS May be measured in terms of the number of subframes between the start of each consecutive positioning occasion. Multiple PRS occasions may be associated with the same PRS resource configuration, in which case each such occasion is referred to as an "occasion for PRS resources" or the like.

PRSs may be transmitted at a constant power. PRSs may also be transmitted at zero power (i.e., muted). Muting of regularly scheduled PRS transmissions may be useful when PRS signals between different cells overlap by occurring at or near the same time. In this case, PRS signals from some cells may be muted while PRS signals from other cells are transmitted (e.g., at a constant power). Muting can assist UEs in signal acquisition and time of arrival (TOA) and Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements of non-muted PRS signals (by avoiding interference from muted PRS signals). Muting can be considered as not transmitting PRSs for a given positioning occasion of a particular cell. The bit string may be used to signal (e.g., using LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)) a muting pattern (also referred to as a muting sequence) to the UE. For example, in a bit string signaled to indicate a muting pattern, if the bit at position j is set to '0', the UE may infer to mute the PRS for the j-th positioning occasion.

To further improve the audibility of PRSs, the positioning subframes may be low-interference subframes transmitted without user data channels. As a result, in a perfectly synchronized network, the PRS may be interfered with by PRS of other cells with the same PRS pattern index (i.e., with the same frequency shift), but not by interference from data transmissions. The frequency shift may be defined as the PRS ID (denoted as PRS) for a cell or other Transmission Point (TP)

) Or a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) (denoted @) without an assigned PRS ID>

) Which results in an effective frequency reuse factor of six (6).

Also to improve audibility of PRSs (e.g., when the PRS bandwidth is limited such as to have only 6 resource blocks corresponding to a 1.4MHz bandwidth), the frequency band for consecutive PRS positioning occasions (or consecutive PRS subframes) may be changed via frequency hopping in a known and predictable manner. In addition, a cell supported by a base station may support more than one PRS configuration, where each PRS configuration may include a unique frequency shift (vshift), a unique carrier frequency, a unique bandwidth, a unique code sequence, and/or have a specific number of subframes per positioning occasion (N) _PRS ) And a specific periodicity (T) _PRS ) Of PRS positioning occasions. In certain implementations, one or more PRS configurations supported in a cell may be used for directional PRSs and may then have additional unique properties (such as unique transmission directions, unique horizontal angular ranges, and/or unique vertical angular ranges).

The PRS configuration as described above, including PRS transmission/muting scheduling, is signaled to a UE to enable the UE to perform PRS positioning measurements. The UE is not expected to blindly perform detection of the PRS configuration.

Note that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may sometimes refer to a specific reference signal used for positioning in an LTE/NR system. However, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" refer to any type of reference signal intended for positioning. Downlink (DL) or Sidelink (SL) signals (such as control or communications) whose primary purpose is not location dependent are referred to herein as non-location reference signals (non-PRS). Examples of non-PRSs include, but are not limited to, PHY channels such as SSBs, TRSs, CSI-RSs, PDSCHs, DM-RSs, PDCCHs, PSSCHs, and PSCCHs. As discussed herein, non-PRS signals typically transmitted for positioning-independent purposes may also be used by UEs for positioning purposes (e.g., in hybrid positioning measurements). Similar to DL PRS transmitted by a base station as discussed above, a UE may transmit UL PRS for positioning and UL or SL non-PRS that may be used for positioning. The UL PRS may be, for example, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) for positioning, and the UL non-PRS may be an SRS configured for MIMO communication, e.g., an SRS for codebook-based UL or non-codebook-based UL, or an SRS for antenna switching or an SRS for carrier switching.

Using received DL PRS or non-PRS from base stations or SL signaling from other UEs, and/or UL PRS or non-PRS transmitted to base stations or SLs transmitted to other UEs, UEs may perform various positioning measurements such as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements for time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning techniques, reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements for TDOA, angle of departure and Round Trip Time (RTT) or multi-cell RTT (multi-RTT) positioning techniques, time difference between reception and transmission of signals (RX-Tx) for multi-RTT positioning techniques, etc.

Various positioning techniques rely on DL, UL or SL PRS, which may also use DL, UL or SL non-PRS. For example, positioning techniques using reference signals include downlink-based positioning, uplink-based positioning, and combined downlink and uplink-based positioning. For example, downlink-based positioning includes positioning methods such as DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning includes positioning methods such as UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Downlink and uplink based positioning includes positioning methods such as RTT (multiple RTT) with one or more neighboring base stations. Other positioning methods exist, including PRS-independent methods. For example, enhanced cell ID (E-CID) is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements.

Fig. 5 illustrates various possible patterns for DL PRS resources within a slot. For example, DL PRS resources span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols in a full frequency domain staggered pattern (referred to as "comb") within a slot. DL PRS resources may be configured in any higher layer configured DL or Frequency Layer (FL) symbol of a slot with constant Energy Per Resource Element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL PRS resource.

Table 2 illustrates various possible patterns of symbols and combs, which are shown in visual form in fig. 5.

TABLE 2

One type of non-PRS (i.e., signals that may be used for positioning purposes (e.g., in hybrid positioning measurements) transmitted for positioning-independent purposes) is a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS). The TRS implements fine time tracking and frequency tracking capabilities. The TRS is wideband and is transmitted in regular bursts. For example, parameters for the burst structure include X: TRS burst length (in # slots), and Y: TRS burst periodicity (in # slots). The TRS is configured as a set of CSI-RS resources. A common value among non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resources in a set of CSI-RS resources configured for a TRS is up to radio layer 2 (RAN 2) to reduce signaling overhead. The TRS may support a single port. The UE104 may be configured with multiple TRSs for multiple TRP/multi-panel transmission. Within the TRS bandwidth, the TRS has equal RE intervals in the frequency domain. TRS is UE-specifically managed.

Table 3 illustrates various parameters for the TRS.

/>

TABLE 3

The UE104 is not expected to receive TRSs outside of the BWP. The TRS RB location is configured by the gNB102.

As an example, fig. 6A and 6B illustrate, in visual form, a TRS configuration and an extended TRS configuration for two slots, respectively. In some implementations, a TRS may be configured for one slot.

As an example, fig. 6C illustrates, in visual form, a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) in a 5G NR wireless network. The synchronization signal and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) block (SSB/SS block) may include: primary and secondary synchronization signals (PSS, SSS), each occupying 1 symbol and 127 subcarriers: and PBCH, which spans 3 OFDM symbols and 240 subcarriers. The periodicity of the SSBs may be configured by the network and the time positions at which the SSBs may be transmitted are determined by the subcarrier spacing. Multiple SSBs may be transmitted within a frequency span of a carrier. The Physical Cell Identifiers (PCIs) of these SSBs need not be unique, i.e., different SSBs may have different PCIs.

In some versions of the 3GPP specifications (e.g., 3 GPP' NR and NG-RAN over Description-rel.15 (NR and NG-RAN general Description-release 15) ", TS 38.300, 2018), the concept of SSB and bursts arises for periodic synchronization signal transmission from the gNB. As shown in fig. 6C, an SS block may be a group of 4 OFDM symbols (in time) and 240 subcarriers (in frequency) (i.e., 20 resource blocks). The SS blocks may carry PSS, SSs and PBCH. Demodulation reference signals (DMRS) associated with the PBCH may be used to estimate Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of the SS block. In a 14 symbol slot, there are two possible positions for an SS block: symbols 2-5 and symbols 8-11. These SS blocks may be grouped into SS bursts (which may have different periodicities T) _SS ) First 5ms. E.g. T _SS May be 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, orOn the order of 160 ms. When accessing the network for the first time, the UE may assume a periodic T _SS =20ms. Each SS block may be mapped to a certain angular direction when considering the frequencies required for beam operation. To reduce the impact of SS transmissions, an SS may send over a wide beam, while data transmissions for active UEs may typically be performed over a narrow beam to reduce the gain resulting from beamforming.

In an embodiment, the CSI-RS may be used for Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements for mobility management purposes in connected mode. For example, it is possible to configure multiple CSI-RSs to the same SS burst, in this way the UE104 may first use the SS burst to obtain synchronization with a given cell and then use the synchronization as a reference to search for CSI-RS resources. The CSI-RS measurement window configuration may include at least a periodicity and a time/frequency offset relative to an associated SS burst. Fig. 6D shows an example CSI-RS periodic configuration in a 5G NR wireless network. SS blocks can be per T _SS ms are transmitted once and they embed time and frequency offsets indicating the time and frequency allocation of the CSI-RS signal within the frame structure. As depicted, the CSI-RS signal may pass T after the SS burst ends _csi ms is sent.

DL and SL non-PRS may be used to perform positioning measurements by the UE 104. However, currently there is no mechanism to configure positioning assistance data for non-PRS to enable positioning measurements using non-PRS. Furthermore, the UE currently has no mechanism to report non-PRS based performed positioning measurements.

Positioning assistance data for NR version 16 (r 16) received by UE104 from location server 172, such as LMF 270, includes a database of available PRS resources, each of which is uniquely identified using, for example, a PRS ID, a resource set ID, and a resource ID. For example, there are 64 PRS IDs per frequency layer, and the PRS-IDs are 0-255 for up to 4 frequency layers. The TRP ID spans all frequency layers, rather than being defined locally within each frequency layer. For example, a list of available TRPs may be provided to the UE in the positioning assistance data. The available TRPs are identified using TRP IDs. Within the parameters for each TRP there is information on the available PRS. For example, table 4 below illustrates PRS information in the NR-DL-PRS-Info-r16 (NR-DL-PRS-Info-r 16) Information Element (IE) as specified in 3gpp TS 37.355, which provides a list of PRS resource sets. As illustrated, there is a resource esetid (resource set ID) within each PRS-resource set and how the set of PRS resources is configured, e.g., number of symbols, time gap, repetition factor, power, number of resources (e.g., DL-PRS-resource list-r16 (DL-PRS-resource list-r 16)), etc.

/>

TABLE 4

As illustrated in table 5 below, the NR-DL-PRS resources set-r16 (NR-DL-PRS resource set-r 16) IE provides various parameters for each resource set, including the number of symbols, time gap, muting options, etc.

/>

TABLE 5

Additionally, as illustrated in the NR-DL-PRS-Resource-r16 (NR-DL-PRS-Resource-r 16) shown in Table 6 below, for each Resource (NR-DL-PRS-Resource-r 16), there is a Resource ID. For each resource id, parameters specific to the PRS resource are provided, such as comb size, slot offset, symbol offset, etc.

/>

TABLE 6

Thus, each PRS is identified by a unique ID. For example, each resource set is provided with a resource set ID (i.e., nr-DL-PRS-ResourceSetID-r16, as shown in Table 4), and each resource in the resource set is identified by a resource ID (i.e., nr-DL-PRS-ResourceID-r 16). In addition, TRPs associated with resource sets are also identified with physical cell and/or cell global ID. As shown in the NR-DL-PRS-asistancedatapertrp-r 16 (NR-DL-PRS-per-TRP assistance data-r 16) information element shown in table 7 below. Accordingly, each PRS is uniquely identified using the PRS ID, the resource set ID and the resource ID, and the physical cell ID and the cell global ID (if needed) in a database manifest provided in the positioning assistance data.

TABLE 7

Additionally, the positioning assistance data comprises a selection of PRS to use, the selection being based on a positioning method. For example, table 8 below illustrates an IE for TDOA (NR-DL-TDOA-ProvideAssistanceData (NR-DL-TDOA-provision assistance data)) used by a location server to provide assistance data to implement UE-assisted and UE-based NR DL-TDOA. It can also be used to provide error causes specific to NR DL-TDOA locations.

TABLE 8

Table 9 below illustrates IEs for AoD (NR-DL-AoD-ProvideAssistanceData) used by a location server to provide assistance data to achieve UE-assisted and UE-based NR DL-AoD. It can also be used to provide the cause of the error specific to the NR DL-AoD location.

/>

TABLE 9

Table 10 below illustrates an IE for RTT (NR-Multi-RTT-ProvideAssistanceData) used by a location server to provide assistance data to achieve UE-assisted NR Multi RTT. It can also be used to provide error causes specific to NR multi RTT positioning.

TABLE 10

The selected PRS is identified using a PRS ID. For example, table 11 below illustrates an NR-selected DL-PRS-IndexList (NR-selected DL-PRS-index list) IE used by a location server to identify a selected PRS, e.g., based on a frequency layer index, a TRP index, a resource set index, and a resource index.

/>

TABLE 11

Moreover, the positioning assistance data provided to the UE104 may further include beam information for PRS. Table 12 below illustrates an NR-DL-PRS-BeamInfo-r16 (NR-DL-PRS-BeamInfo-r 16) IE that may be used to associate beam information per TRP with a PRS-ID (e.g., DL-PRS-ID-r 16) and an associated PRS ID (e.g., associated-DL-PRS-ID-r16 (associated DL-PRS-ID-r 16)). For example, if beam information of a plurality of TRPs is the same, associated-dl-PRS-ID-r16 includes an ID of another TRP having the same beam information, in order to reduce overhead. The associated-dl-PRS-ID field specifies the dl-PRS-ID of the associated TRP from which the beam information is taken. The beam information from the associated TRP is considered as a Global Coordinate System (GCS) if the LCS-GCS-translation-parameter field is not provided, and as a Local Coordinate System (LCS) if the LCS-GCS-translation-parameter field is provided. If this field is omitted, the beam information is provided via the dl-prs-beamforonset (dl-prs-beam information set) field.

TABLE 12

Table 13 below illustrates the SSB configuration in LPP in NR version 16. The UE104 receives the SSB configuration, where the TRP is identified (e.g., nr-physcelld-r 16 (nr-physical cell ID-r 16)) and the frequency band is identified (e.g., nr-ARFCN-r 16), along with associated parameters of the transmitted SSB. However, this SSB configuration is not provided for location purposes. The SSB configuration is provided to provide an indication of which PRS will be punctured due to collisions (if any) with SSBs. Additionally, as can be seen in table 13, there is no PRS ID associated with the SSB, as the SSB is not intended for positioning.

Watch 13

The positioning assistance data received by the UE104 further configures the positioning frequency layer. The DL PRS positioning frequency layer is defined as a set of DL PRS resource sets, where all DL PRS resource sets have common parameters configured by DL-PRS-positioningfrequency layer (DL-PRS-positioning frequency layer) IEs. The UE104 is configured to assume that the parameters for each DL PRS Resource are configured via the higher layer parameters DL-PRS-positioningfrequency layer, DL-PRS-Resource set, and DL-PRS-Resource. The positioning frequency layer includes one or more sets of PRS resources, and it is defined by the following parameters. The parameter DL-PRS-Subcarrierspacing (DL-PRS-subcarrier spacing) defines the subcarrier spacing (SCS) for DL PRS resources. All DL PRS resources and sets of DL PRS resources in the same DL-PRS-locating frequency layer have the same DL-PRS-Subcarrierspacing value. The supported DL-PRS-SubcarrierSpacing values are given in Table 4.2-1 of 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.211. The parameter DL-PRS-cyclic prefix defines the Cyclic Prefix (CP) for DL PRS resources. All DL PRS resources and sets of DL PRS resources in the same DL-PRS-locating frequency layer have the same DL-PRS-Cyclic Prefix value. The supported DL-PRS-CyclicPrefix values are given in Table 4.2-1 of 3GPP 38.211. DL-PRS-PointA (DL-PRS-Point A) defines the absolute frequency of the reference resource block. Its lowest subcarrier is also referred to as point a. All DL PRS resources belonging to the same set of DL PRS resources have a common point a and all sets of DL PRS resources belonging to the same DL-PRS-positioninguequency layer have a common point a. DL-PRS-StartPRB (DL-PRS-start PRB) defines the start PRB index of DL PRS resources relative to reference point a, which is given by the higher layer parameter DL-PRS-PointA. The starting PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs. All DL PRS resource sets belonging to the same positioning frequency layer have the same starting PRB value. DL-PRS-ResourceBandwidth (DL-PRS-resource bandwidth) is defined as the number of resource blocks of the PRS transmission configuration. The parameter has a granularity of 4 PRBs with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. All sets of DL PRS resources within the positioning frequency layer have the same DL-PRS-resource bandwidth value. DL-PRS-CombSizen (DL-PRS-comb size N) defines the comb size of DL PRS resources, where allowable values are given in clause 7.4.1.7.1 of 3GPP TS 38.211. All sets of DL PRS resources belonging to the same positioning frequency layer have the same DL-PRS-combSizeN value.

After performing the requested positioning measurements, the UE104 reports the measurement information to another entity (e.g., location server 172) and uses the PRS ID to identify the PRS used in the positioning measurements. The UE104 reports the measurement information in an information element associated with the particular measurement. For example, table 14 below illustrates an information element (NR-DL-TDOA-signal measurement information) for TDOA measurements that may be used by the UE104 to provide NR DL-TDOA measurements to the location server 172. As illustrated in table 14, the NR-DL-TDOA-SignalMeasurementInformation IE provides an identifier of the PRS used for measurement (i.e., DL-PRS-ID-r 16), which includes a physical cell ID (i.e., NR-physcelld-r 16), a resource ID (i.e., NR-DL-PRS-resource ID-r 16), and a resource set ID (i.e., NR-DL-resource setid-r 16). The resource ID is a local index within the PRS ID set; the resource set ID is a local index of a set within the PRS ID, and the physical cell ID is a Physical Cell (PCI) of the TRP associated with the PRS ID. In addition, the UE104 provides a timestamp indicating when the measurement occurred, as well as the granularity of the measurement (e.g., nr-RSTD-r16, which may be selected from granularity k0-k 5).

/>

TABLE 14

Similar to the reporting of TDOAs discussed above, UE104 provides reporting of measurement information for other types of positioning measurements, where PRS signals used in positioning measurements are identified based on PRS IDs.

As can be seen from the discussion above, positioning assistance data received by the UE104 and measurement information reported by the UE104 rely on the use of a PRS ID to specifically identify the PRS used for positioning measurements, e.g., to identify the PRS to be used for positioning measurements in the case of positioning assistance data or to report the PRS used in positioning measurements in the case of measurement reporting. Neither the positioning assistance data nor the measurement information report can identify non-PRSs, e.g., TRS, SSB, DMRS, etc., that may be used for positioning measurements by the UE 104.

In one implementation, the UE104 is provided with an association between a non-PRS signal (which may be a downlink or sidelink) and a PRS-ID that may be used for positioning. For example, the UE104 may receive positioning assistance data that associates non-PRSs (such as SSBs, TRSs, CSI-RSs, PDSCH, DMRSs, PDCCH, psch, PSCCH) with PRS-IDs provided in the positioning assistance data.

In some implementations, a non-PRS may be associated with a unique PRS-ID. However, in other implementations, the PRS-ID may be shared with PRS and non-PRS. However, in the case where PRS and non-PRS are associated with the same PRS-ID, signals are transmitted by the same port (i.e., they are from quasi-co-located (QCL) antennas), but they need not be coherent. For example, to perform accurate time-of-arrival measurements with PRSs or non-PRSs sharing the same PRS-ID, these PRS and non-PRS signals should be QCL, but they may be incoherent.

The positioning assistance data may select a particular PRS-ID to be used for positioning measurements. The PRS-ID may be uniquely associated with the non-PRS or may be shared by both the PRS and the non-PRS. The UE104 may perform the requested positioning measurements using the PRS or non-PRS associated with the selected PRS-ID. If the selected PRS-ID is associated with both PRS and non-PRS, a selection of which signal to use for positioning measurements (i.e., PRS, non-PRS, or both PRS and non-PRS) may be made by the UE104 (e.g., opportunistically or based on quality parameters). Alternatively, the network (e.g., serving base station 102) may decide which signal associated with the PRS-ID will be used for positioning measurements by the UE104, e.g., by turning off one of these signals, such as the PRS, based on a quality or priority factor.

After the UE104 performs positioning measurements, the UE104 may report measurement information that references the PRS-ID to identify PRS signals or non-PRS signals for positioning measurements. If the same PRS-ID is associated with both a PRS and a non-PRS, the UE104 may simply reference the PRS-ID without further specifying whether the signal used for positioning measurements is a PRS or a non-PRS. In other implementations, the UE104 may provide further indications as to whether the signal used for positioning measurements is PRS or non-PRS. However, by uniquely associating non-PRSs with PRS-IDs, the need for the UE104 to provide further indications of which signals are used for positioning measurements may be eliminated.

In one example, a configuration in which non-PRS are associated with PRS-IDs may be provided by the location server 172 (e.g., LMF 270) in LPP messages along with conventional PRS resources in positioning assistance data to the UE 104. For example, the association between any non-PRS and PRS-ID may be provided in positioning assistance data in a PRS-Resource IE (e.g., illustrated in table 6) or a beam information IE (e.g., illustrated in table 12). Alternatively, the association between a non-PRS and a PRS-ID may be provided in a configuration information element for the corresponding non-PRS. For example, if an SSB may be used as a reference signal for positioning, a PRS-ID may be associated with the SSB in an SSB information configuration information element (e.g., illustrated in table 13). Similarly, if a TRS can be used as a reference signal for positioning, the PRS-ID can be associated with the TRS in a TRS configuration information element when the TRS configuration is provided in an LPP message. Similarly, if a CSI-RS, PSSCH, or DMRS can be used as a reference signal for positioning, a PRS-ID can be associated with the CSI-RS, PSSCH, or DMRS in a configuration information element. The PRS-ID may be associated with a PDSCH (or DMRS) if it can be used as a reference signal for positioning. However, since the PDSCH/DMRS is dynamically scheduled by the UE104, the PRS-ID associated with the PDSCH or DMRS is provided in a PDSCH configuration information element that does not include a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH. For example, the time and frequency allocation of PDSCH may be selected by serving gNB102.

As an example, fig. 7 illustrates a communication system 700 in which a location server 172 provides an association between a non-PRS and a PRS-ID to a UE104 in positioning assistance data. For example, as illustrated by arrow 702, the location server 172 provides positioning assistance data 704 to the UE 104. The positioning assistance data 704 includes configuration information regarding both PRS and non-PRS. For example, the positioning assistance data 704 includes an association between a non-PRS and a PRS-ID. For example, as illustrated, TRS0 is associated with PRS-ID =0, TRS1 is associated with PRS-ID =1, and PRS0 is associated with PRS-ID =2 and PRS1 is associated with PRS-ID = 3. It will be understood that, in practice, the location server 172 does not transmit the message directly to the UE104, but the message is transmitted through the serving base station 102, as illustrated by the dashed arrow 710. The positioning assistance data 704 is contained in an LPP message sent from the location server 172 to the UE104 via the serving base station 102. The serving base station 102 passes the LPP message to the UE104 without decoding the message, and thus, in this implementation, the serving base station 102 is unaware of the association of the non-PRS with the PRS-ID.

In another example, a configuration in which non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID may be provided to the UE104 in positioning assistance data received from the serving base station 102 (e.g., a gNB), e.g., in an NRPPa message. The UE104 may receive the remainder of the positioning assistance data from the location server 172 (e.g., LMF 270). The serving base station 102 will additionally send an association of non-PRS and PRS-ID to the location server 172.

As an example, fig. 8 illustrates a communication system 800 in which a serving base station 102 provides an association between a non-PRS and a PRS-ID in positioning assistance data to a UE104 and a location server 172. For example, as illustrated by arrow 802, the location server 172 and the serving base station 102 communicate (e.g., the location server 172 requests association of a non-PRS signal with a PRS-ID). For example, the location server 172 can provide the serving base station 102 with a list of PRSs and their PRS-IDs. In return, the serving base station 102 may provide the configuration parameter data 803 to the location server 172, e.g., in an NRPPa message, along with the association of the non-PRS signal with the PRS-ID. If the PRS and non-PRS are QCL, the configuration parameter data 803 may include the non-PRS that is uniquely associated with or may share a PRS-ID with the PRS. The serving base station 102 additionally sends the configuration parameters to the UE104 as positioning assistance data 804, e.g., in an RRC message, as illustrated by arrow 806. In some implementations, the positioning assistance data 804 may include assistance data received by the serving base station 102 from the location server 172, as well as associations of non-PRSs and PRS-IDs. In other implementations, the positioning assistance data 804 may include an association of a non-PRS with a PRS-ID, and the location server 172 may send PRS related positioning assistance data 810 to the UE104 via message 812 (which may be an LPP message). For example, positioning assistance data 804 from the serving base station 102 may include an association between non-PRS and PRS-ID, as illustrated as TRS0 associated with PRS-ID =0 and TRS1 associated with PRS-ID = 1. Positioning assistance data 810 from a location server may provide an association of PRS and PRS-ID as illustrated with PRS0 associated with PRS-ID =2 and PRS1 associated with PRS-ID = 3. As discussed in fig. 7, the LPP message 812 is transmitted by the serving base station 102 (as illustrated by the dashed arrow 814), but the serving base station 102 does not decode the LPP message.

In positioning assistance data, when non-PRS (such as SSBs, TRSs, CSI-RSs, PDSCH, DMRS, PDCCH, PSCCH, etc.) are to be used to derive positioning measurements, the non-PRS may be configured in a separate set of resources or frequency layer from the set of resources or frequency layer used for PRS. For example, non-PRS may be configured within one or more sets of dedicated resources separate from the set of dedicated resources containing the PRS configuration. In another example, non-PRS may be configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data that are separate frequency layers from the frequency layer containing the PRS configuration. Thus, for example, there may be a frequency layer configured for PRS, while there is a separate frequency layer configured for non-PRS that may be used for positioning. In some implementations, the UE104 may perform positioning measurements, such as RSTD, for example in inter-frequency RSTD using PRSs from one frequency layer and non-PRSs from a separate frequency layer. However, such a configuration does not allow for configuring a single frequency layer within which some TRPs may be transmitted using PRS and other TRPs may be transmitted using non-PRS. Therefore, this configuration requires multiple frequency layers, and some UEs may not support the positioning measurement process using multiple frequency layers.

In another configuration, an extended positioning frequency layer may be defined for which it is possible to have non-PRSs in the same frequency layer as PRSs. For example, the UE may need to report positioning capabilities that support the extended positioning frequency layer. The extended positioning frequency layer may be constrained such that all reference signals (i.e., PRS and non-PRS) have the same center frequency and parameter design (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic Prefix (CP)), but the bandwidth, starting PRS, reference signal pattern (e.g., comb size) may be different.

In another configuration, in addition to configuring PRS and non-PRS in separate resource sets, the non-PRS may be configured in different resource sets based on the type of non-PRS (e.g., separate resource sets may be used where each resource set includes signals of the same PHY channel). For example, in addition to a set of resources for PRS, there may be a set of resources including TRS, and a separate set of resources including SSBs, etc.

In another implementation, the positioning assistance data may define different accuracy and different measurement period requirements for positioning measurements (e.g., RSTD, rx-Tx, RSRP) generated using different types of non-PRS signals.

The UE104 may select non-PRS resources for positioning measurements. For example, currently 3gpp TS 38.214 specifies "if the UE chooses to use a reference time that is different from the reference time indicated by the network, then it is expected to report [ ID ], (DL PRS resource ID(s) or DL PRS resource set ID (s)) used to determine the reference.

In one implementation, the UE104 may be configured to report a PRS-ID associated with a non-PRS in a measurement information report. For example, current 3gpp TS 38.214 specifies "for DL UE positioning measurement report in higher layer parameters DL-PRS-Rstd measurement info (DL-PRS-Rstd measurement information) or DL-PRS-UE-Rx-Tx-measurement info (DL-PRS-UE-Rx-Tx-measurement information), a UE may be configured to report DL PRS resource ID(s) or DL PRS resource set(s) associated with DL PRS resource(s) or DL PRS resource set(s) used in determining that the UE measures DL Rstd, UE Tx-Rx time difference, or DL PRS-RSRP. For example, as illustrated in fig. 7 and 8, the UE104 may report measurement information to the location server 172, e.g., in an LPP message, where signals used to generate positioning measurements are identified using a PRS-ID, which may be associated with non-PRS signals. For example, as illustrated by

arrows

706 and 816 in fig. 7 and 8, respectively, the UE104 may provide measurement information reports 708 and 818, respectively, that identify results of positioning measurements (e.g., RSTD = X) and identify PRS-IDs (e.g., PRS-ID =0 and PRS-ID = 1) associated with signals (e.g., TRS0 and TRS 1) used to generate RSTD positioning measurements.

For example, in the RSTD report from the UE104, the signals being used to derive the RSTD measurements may belong to the same physical channel (i.e., be of the same type). In other words, RSTD measurements may be performed and reported using reference and target signals that are both non-PRS of the same type. However, in the same report, the UE104 may provide RSTD measurements derived using different types of signals. For example, the first RSTD measurement may be derived using PRS, while the second RSTD measurement may be derived using SSB, and so on.

In Rx-Tx measurement reporting, different Rx-Tx measurements reported by the UE104 may be derived using different types of signals (e.g., signals from different physical channels).

In one implementation, the UE104 may be configured to use non-PRS signals to provide its positioning capability to indicate that the UE supports positioning measurements (e.g., derive Rx-Tx, RSTD, RSRP, etc.). The UE104 may specify the capability to support non-PRS for positioning per band. For example, the UE104 may indicate that the UE104 supports using different non-PRS for positioning measurements per band, and which type of non-PRS may be used in which frequency layer. The UE104 may further indicate that it supports positioning measurements using multiple different non-PRSs in the frequency layer. The UE104 may further indicate whether the UE104 is capable of processing different types of signals simultaneously to derive a single report. For example, the UE104 may indicate whether the UE104 supports reporting measurement information in a single report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Fig. 9 is a message flow 900 illustrating messaging between LMF 270, AMF 264, gNB102 and UE104 and a second UE 902 for a UE-assisted positioning procedure using DL or SL non-PRS signals. Serving gNB 102-1 and multiple neighboring gNBs 102-2, 102-3, and 102-4 may sometimes be collectively referred to as gNB102. The procedure illustrated in fig. 9 may be used with DL or SL PRS and non-PRS signaling, e.g., to implement RSTD, RSRP, rx-Tx time difference measurements for TDOA, aoD, and multi-RTT positioning techniques. It should be understood that for multi-RTT positioning techniques, UL signaling from UE104 will be transmitted and measured by gNB102, which is not illustrated in fig. 9.

In phase 1, the lmf 270 may request location capabilities of the UE104 using LPP capability transfer procedures.

In phase 2, the UE104 may send an LPP provide capability message that may indicate that the UE104 supports positioning measurements using non-PRS signals. For example, the UE104 may specify support for using non-PRS per band, e.g., to indicate a capability to use different non-PRS per band and/or to use multiple different non-PRS in a frequency layer. The UE104 may further indicate whether the UE104 is capable of processing different types of signals simultaneously to derive a single report. For example, the UE104 may indicate whether the UE104 supports reporting measurement information in a single report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS. The UE104 may indicate a capability to support an extended positioning frequency layer for non-PRS.

In phase 3, the lmf 270 may prepare and send an LPP provide assistance data message to the UE 104. In one implementation, for example, consistent with fig. 7, assistance data may include PRS signals and a list of non-PRS signals, and may include an association of the non-PRS signals with PRS-IDs. For example, LMF 270 may obtain information related to PRS and non-PRS, e.g., from gNB102. The LMF 270 may prepare the positioning assistance data accordingly, including the PRS-ID list and the association of non-PRS and PRS-IDs. The message sent to the UE104 may include any assistance data needed for the UE104 to perform the necessary DL or SL positioning measurements. In one implementation, non-PRSs in the assistance data may be configured in a separate set of resources or frequency layer from the set of resources or frequency layer used for PRSs. In one implementation, an extended positioning frequency layer to have non-PRS in the same frequency layer as PRS is, for example, constrained such that all reference signals (i.e., PRS and non-PRS) have the same center frequency and parameter design (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic Prefix (CP)), but the bandwidth, starting PRS, reference signal pattern (e.g., comb size) may be different. The non-PRSs may be configured in different resource sets based on the type of non-PRS (e.g., separate resource sets may be used, where each resource set includes signals of the same PHY channel). Additionally, the assistance data may define different accuracy and different measurement period requirements for positioning measurements (e.g., RSTD, rx-Tx, RSRP) generated using different types of non-PRS signals.

In optional stage 4, the lmf 270 may send a request for a non-PRS signal associated with a PRS-ID to the serving gNB 102-1, e.g., via an NRPPa message. For example, the request may include a PRS and a PRS-ID manifest.

In optional phase 5, the serving gNB 102-1 may send a response to the LMF 270 with a non-PRS signal associated with a PRS-ID, e.g., via an NRPPa message.

In optional stage 6, serving gNB 102-1 may transmit assistance data to UE104, the assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS signal with a PRS-ID. In some implementations, the assistance data may include PRS and PRS-ID manifests received from the LMF 270 in phase 4, while in other implementations, PRS and PRS-ID manifests may be provided by the LMF 270 in the assistance data provided in phase 3. For example,

optional stages

4, 5 and 6 are consistent with fig. 8.

In stage 7, the lmf 270 sends LPP request location information messages to the UE104 to request DL or SL location measurements, such as RSTD, RSRP, rx-Tx time difference measurements for TDOA, aoD, and multi-RTT location techniques.

In stage 8, UE104 may perform downlink or sidelink positioning measurements using either DL non-PRS signals transmitted by gNB102 or SL non-PRS signals transmitted by UE 902. The UE104 may additionally use PRS to perform positioning measurements. In UE-based positioning processing, the UE104 may further use these positioning measurements to determine a positioning estimate.

In stage 9, the ue104 reports the measurement information to the network node in a provide location information message (e.g., consistent with fig. 7 and 8). The network node may be, for example, LMF 270 (as illustrated in fig. 9), or may be a serving base station 102-1 or UE 902, or another entity, such as a RAN-based location server. The measurement information identifies, for example, non-PRS signals used to generate positioning measurements using PRS-IDs associated therewith. For example, the measurement report may be an RSTD report, where the signals for each RSTD measurement may be the same type of non-PRS, but the report may include multiple RSTDs derived using different types of non-PRS (or PRS) signals. For Rx-Tx measurement reporting, the measurement information may provide different Rx-Tx measurements derived using different types of non-PRS signals. In one implementation, for example, in a UE-based positioning procedure, the UE104 may additionally provide the positioning estimate generated at stage 8.

At stage 10, the network node (illustrated as LMF 270 in fig. 9) determines or validates the location estimate for UE104 (if provided) using the location measurements reported in stage 9 and the corresponding location techniques.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a UE1000 (which may be, for example, the UE104 shown in fig. 1) that is enabled to support positioning thereof using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements as described herein. UE1000 is configured to execute signal flow 900 shown in fig. 9, process flow 1300 shown in fig. 13, and associated algorithms as discussed herein. UE1000 may, for example, include one or more processors 1002, memory 1004, an external interface (such as a transceiver 1010, e.g., a wireless network interface), which may be operatively coupled to non-transitory computer-readable medium 1020 and memory 1004 with one or more connections 1006 (e.g., buses, lines, fibers, links, etc.). The UE1000 may further include additional items not shown, such as a user interface by which a user may interface with the UE, which may include, for example, a display, a keypad or other input device (such as a virtual keypad on a display), or a satellite positioning system receiver. In some example implementations, all or a portion of the UE1000 may take the form of a chipset or the like. The transceiver 1010 may include, for example, a transmitter 1012 that is implemented to be capable of transmitting one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks, and a receiver 1014 that receives one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types of wireless communication networks.

In some embodiments, UE1000 may include antenna 1011, which may be internal or external. The UE antenna 1011 may be used for transmitting and/or receiving signals processed by the transceiver 1010. In some embodiments, a UE antenna 1011 may be coupled to the transceiver 1010. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by UE1000 may be performed at the point of connection of UE antenna 1011 and transceiver 1010. For example, the measurement reference points for received (transmitted) RF signal measurements may be an input (output) terminal of receiver 1014 (transmitter 1012) and an output (input) terminal of UE antenna 1011. In a UE1000 with multiple UE antennas 1011 or antenna arrays, the antenna connector may be considered as a virtual point representing the aggregate output (input) of the multiple UE antennas. In some embodiments, UE1000 may measure the received signal (including signal strength and TOA measurements) and the raw measurements may be processed by one or more processors 1002.

The one or more processors 1002 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1002 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1008 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium (such as medium 1020 and/or memory 1004). In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1002 may represent one or more circuits that may be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal calculation procedure or process related to the operation of the UE 1000.

The medium 1020 and/or memory 1004 may store instructions or program code 1008 that include executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 1002, cause the one or more processors 1002 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As illustrated in the UE1000, the medium 1020 and/or the memory 1004 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 1002 to perform the methodologies described herein. While the components or modules are illustrated as software in the media 1020 that is executable by the one or more processors 1002, it is to be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 1004 or may be dedicated hardware within the one or more processors 1002 or external to the processors. A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the media 1020 and/or memory 1004 and be utilized by the one or more processors 1002 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It is to be appreciated that the organization of the media 1020 and/or the memory 1004 as shown in the UE1000 is merely exemplary, and as such, the functionality of the various modules and/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or structured in different manners depending on the implementation of the UE 1000.

The medium 1020 and/or the memory 1004 may include a positioning session module 1022 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1002, configures the one or more processors 1002 to participate in a positioning session for a UE. For example, the one or more processors 1002 may be configured to participate in a location session by providing location capabilities to a location server via the transceiver 1010. The one or more processors 1002 may be configured to receive positioning assistance data from a location server and/or a serving base station via a transceiver 1010. The one or more processors 1002 may be configured to perform positioning measurements (e.g., using the transceiver 1010). The one or more processors 1002 may be further configured to provide measurement information reports to a network node (such as a location server, serving base station, or sidelink UE) via the transceiver 1010.

The medium 1020 and/or the memory 1004 may include a non-PRS module 1024 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1002, configures the one or more processors 1002 to use non-PRS signals for positioning. For example, the one or more processors 1002 may be configured to include support for positioning using non-PRS signals in positioning capabilities sent to a location server. The one or more processors 1002 may be configured to receive positioning assistance data for performing positioning measurements, the positioning assistance data comprising information related to non-PRS signals and an association of a PRS-ID with a non-PRS signal. The one or more processors 1002 may be configured to perform positioning measurements using DL or SL non-PRS signals (e.g., using transceiver 1010). The one or more processors 1002 may be further configured to include, in the measurement information report, the positioning measurements and PRS-IDs associated with non-PRS signals used to generate the positioning measurements.

The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, these methodologies may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1002 may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), digital Signal Processors (DSPs), digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methodologies described herein. For example, the software codes may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1020 or a memory 1004 connected to the one or more processors 1002 and executed by the one or more processors 1002. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. As used herein, the term "memory" refers to any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or other memory and is not to be limited to any particular type of memory or number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 1008 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as medium 1020 and/or memory 1004. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with a data structure and computer-readable media encoded with a computer program 1008. For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code 1008 stored thereon may include program code 1008 to support positioning of a UE using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Non-transitory computer-readable media 1020 includes physical computer storage media. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1008 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; disk (disk) and disc (disc), as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

In addition to being stored on computer-readable media 1020, the instructions and/or data may also be provided as signals on transmission media included in the communication device. For example, the communication device may include a transceiver 1010 having signals indicative of instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium having signals indicative of information for performing the disclosed functions.

Memory 1004 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1004 may include, for example, a main memory and/or a secondary memory. The main memory may include, for example, random access memory, read only memory, and the like. Although illustrated in this example as being separate from the one or more processors 1002, it is to be understood that all or a portion of the main memory may be located within the one or more processors 1002 or otherwise co-located/coupled with the one or more processors 1002. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as primary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems (such as, for example, magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid state memory drives, etc.).

In certain implementations, the secondary memory may operably house or otherwise be configurable to be coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1020. As such, in certain example implementations, the methods and/or apparatus presented herein may take the form of all or a portion of a computer-readable medium 1020 that may include computer-implementable code 1008 stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors 1002 may be operatively enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1020 may be part of the memory 1004.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a location server 1100 (e.g., location server 172) implemented to be capable of supporting positioning of UEs using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements as described herein. Location server 1100 may be, for example, an E-SMLC or LMF. Location server 1100 is configured to execute signal flow 900 shown in fig. 9, process flow 1400 shown in fig. 14, and associated algorithms as discussed herein. The location server 1100 may, for example, include one or more processors 1102, a memory 1104, and an external interface 1110 (e.g., a wired or wireless network interface to other network entities such as core network entities and base stations), which may be operatively coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 and the memory 1104 with one or more connections 1106 (e.g., buses, lines, fibers, links, etc.). The location server 1100 may further include additional items not shown, such as a user interface by which a user may interface with the location server, which may include, for example, a display, a keypad, or other input device (such as a virtual keypad on a display). In some example implementations, all or a portion of the location server 1100 may take the form of a chipset or the like. The external interface 1110 may be a wired or wireless interface capable of connecting to a base station or a network entity (such as an AMF or MME) in the RAN.

The one or more processors 1102 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1108 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as medium 1120 and/or memory 1104. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1102 may represent one or more circuits that may be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal computation procedure or process related to the operation of the location server 1100.

The medium 1120 and/or memory 1104 may store instructions or program code 1108 that include executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 1102, cause the one or more processors 1102 to operate as special purpose computers programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As illustrated in the location server 1100, the medium 1120 and/or the memory 1104 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 1102 to perform the methodologies described herein. Although the components or modules are illustrated as software in the media 1120 that is executable by the one or more processors 1102, it is to be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 1104 or may be dedicated hardware within the one or more processors 1102 or external to the processors. A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 1120 and/or memory 1104 and be utilized by the one or more processors 1102 to manage both the communication and functionality described herein. It should be appreciated that the organization of the contents of the medium 1120 and/or the memory 1104 as shown in the location server 1100 is merely exemplary, and as such, the functionality of the various modules and/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or structured in different ways depending on the implementation of the location server 1100.

The medium 1120 and/or the memory 1104 may include a positioning session module 1122 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1102, configures the one or more processors 1102 to participate in a positioning session for the UE. For example, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to participate in a positioning session by requesting and receiving positioning capabilities from a UE via the external interface 1110. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to: generates and transmits positioning assistance data to the UE and/or the serving base station via the external interface 1110. The one or more processors 1102 may be further configured to receive measurement information reports from the UE via the external interface 1110. The one or more processors 1102 may be further configured to determine a location position of the UE based on the location measurements received in the measurement information report.

The medium 1120 and/or the memory 1104 may include a non-PRS module 1124 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1102, configures the one or more processors 1102 to enable positioning measurements by the UE using the non-PRS signals. For example, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to receive support for positioning using non-PRS signals in a positioning capability from a UE. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to: generating positioning assistance data for performing positioning measurements, the positioning assistance data comprising information relating to non-PRS signals and an association of a PRS-ID with the non-PRS signals; or receiving an association of a PRS-ID and a non-PRS signal from a serving base station. The one or more processors 1102 may be further configured to receive, in a measurement information report from the UE, positioning measurements and PRS-IDs associated with non-PRS signals used to generate the positioning measurements.

The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, these methodologies may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1102 may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), digital Signal Processors (DSPs), digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methodologies described herein. For example, the software codes may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 or a memory 1104 that is connected to and executed by the one or more processors 1102. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. As used herein, the term "memory" refers to any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or other memory and is not to be limited to any particular type of memory or number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 1108 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as medium 1120 and/or memory 1104. Examples include computer readable media encoded with a data structure and computer readable media encoded with computer program 1108. For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program code 1108 stored thereon can include program code 1108 for supporting positioning of a UE using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Non-transitory computer-readable media 1120 includes physical computer storage media. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1108 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; disk (disk) and disc (disc), as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

In addition to being stored on computer-readable media 1120, instructions and/or data may also be provided as signals on transmission media included in a communication device. For example, the communication device may include an external interface 1110 having signals indicative of instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium having signals indicative of information for performing the disclosed functions.

Memory 1104 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1104 may include, for example, a main memory and/or a secondary memory. The main memory may include, for example, random access memory, read only memory, and the like. Although illustrated in this example as being separate from the one or more processors 1102, it is to be understood that all or a portion of the main memory may be located within the one or more processors 1102 or otherwise co-located/coupled with the one or more processors 1102. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as primary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems (such as, for example, magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid state memory drives, etc.).

In some implementations, the secondary memory may operably house or otherwise be configurable to be coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120. As such, in certain example implementations, the methods and/or apparatus presented herein may take the form of all or a portion of computer-readable medium 1120, which may include computer-implementable code 1108 stored thereon, which computer-implementable code 1108, when executed by one or more processors 1102, may be operatively enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1120 may be a part of the memory 1104.

Fig. 12 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a base station 1200 (e.g., base station 102 in fig. 1) implemented to enable positioning of a UE using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements as described herein. The base station 1200 may be an eNB or a gNB. Base station 1200 is configured to execute signal flow 900 shown in fig. 9, process flow 1500 shown in fig. 15, and associated algorithms as discussed herein. The base station 1200 may, for example, include one or more processors 1202, memory 1204, an external interface that may include a transceiver 1210 (e.g., a wireless network interface) and a communication interface 1216 (e.g., a wired or wireless network interface to other base stations and/or entities in a core network, such as a location server), which may be operably coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220 and the memory 1204 with one or more connections 1206 (e.g., buses, wires, optical fibers, links, etc.). The base station 1200 may further include additional items not shown, such as a user interface by which a user may interface with the base station, which may include, for example, a display, a keypad, or other input devices (such as a virtual keypad on a display). In some example implementations, all or a portion of the base station 1200 may take the form of a chipset, or the like. The transceiver 1210 may include, for example, a transmitter 1212 implemented to be capable of transmitting one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks and a receiver 1214 that receives one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types of wireless communication networks. The communication interface 1216 may be a wired or wireless interface capable of connecting to other base stations or network entities in the RAN, such as the location server 172 shown in fig. 1.

In some embodiments, base station 1200 may include an antenna 1211, which may be internal or external. An antenna 1211 may be used for transmitting and/or receiving signals processed by the transceiver 1210. In some embodiments, an antenna 1211 may be coupled to the transceiver 1210. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by base station 1200 may be performed at the point of connection of antenna 1211 and transceiver 1210. For example, the measurement reference points for received (transmitted) RF signal measurements may be the input (output) terminal of the receiver 1214 (transmitter 1212) and the output (input) terminal of the antenna 1211. In a base station 1200 having multiple antennas 1211 or antenna arrays, the antenna connectors may be viewed as virtual points representing the aggregate output (input) of the multiple antennas. In some embodiments, the base station 1200 may measure received signals (including signal strength and TOA measurements) and the raw measurements may be processed by the one or more processors 1202.

The one or more processors 1202 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1202 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1208 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as medium 1220 and/or memory 1204. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1202 may represent one or more circuits that may be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal computation procedure or process related to the operation of the base station 1200.

The medium 1220 and/or memory 1204 may store instructions or program code 1208 containing executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 1202, cause the one or more processors 1202 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As illustrated in the base station 1200, the medium 1220 and/or the memory 1204 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 1202 to perform the methodologies described herein. While the components or modules are illustrated as software in the media 1220 that is executable by the one or more processors 1202, it is to be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 1204 or may be dedicated hardware in the one or more processors 1202 or outside the processors. A number of software modules and data tables may reside on the media 1220 and/or memory 1204 and are utilized by the one or more processors 1202 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be appreciated that the organization of the contents of the media 1220 and/or memory 1204 as shown in the base station 1200 is merely exemplary, and as such, the functionality of the various modules and/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or structured in different ways depending on the implementation of the base station 1200.

The media 1220 and/or the memory 1204 may include a positioning session module 1222 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1202, configures the one or more processors 1202 to participate in a positioning session for a UE. For example, the one or more processors 1202 may be configured to: transmitting and receiving LLP messages for the UE104 and the location server 172 to participate in the location session. The one or more processors 1202 may be configured to transmit PRS and non-PRS signals that may be used for positioning in a positioning session, e.g., via a transceiver 1210.

The medium 1220 and/or the memory 1204 may include a non-PRS module 1224 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1202, configures the one or more processors 1202 to enable positioning measurements by a UE using non-PRS signals. For example, the one or more processors 1202 may be configured to: the method also includes receiving PRS information from a location server and generating associations of non-PRS signals with PRS-IDs and providing the associations to the location server.

The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, these methodologies may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1202 may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), digital Signal Processors (DSPs), digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methodologies described herein. For example, the software codes may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220 or a memory 1204 that is connected to and executed by the one or more processors 1202. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. As used herein, the term "memory" refers to any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or other memory and is not to be limited to any particular type of memory or number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 1208 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1220 and/or the memory 1204. Examples include computer readable media encoded with a data structure and computer readable media encoded with a computer program 1208. For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program code 1208 stored thereon can include program code 1208 for supporting positioning of a UE using non-PRS signals for positioning measurements in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Non-transitory computer-readable media 1220 includes physical computer storage media. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1208 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; disk (disk) and disc (disc), as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

In addition to being stored on computer-readable media 1220, the instructions and/or data may also be provided as signals on transmission media included in the communication device. For example, the communication device can include a transceiver 1210 having signals indicative of instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium having signals indicative of information for performing the disclosed functions.

Memory 1204 may represent any data storage mechanism. The memory 1204 may include, for example, a main memory and/or a secondary memory. The main memory may include, for example, random access memory, read only memory, and the like. Although illustrated in this example as being separate from the one or more processors 1202, it is to be understood that all or a portion of the main memory may be located within the one or more processors 1202 or otherwise co-located/coupled with the one or more processors 1202. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as primary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems (such as, for example, magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid state memory drives, etc.).

In some implementations, the secondary memory may operably house or otherwise be configurable to be coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220. As such, in certain example implementations, the methods and/or apparatus presented herein may take the form of all or a portion of a computer-readable medium 1220 that may include computer-implementable code 1208 stored thereon, which, when executed by one or more processors 1202, may be operatively enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1220 may be a part of the memory 1204.

Fig. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 1300 performed by a User Equipment (UE), such as UE104, for supporting locating the UE in a wireless network in a manner consistent with disclosed implementations.

At block 1302, the ue receives positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information relating to Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and a second set of information relating to non-positioning reference signals (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS are downlink or sidelink signals transmitted for positioning-independent purposes, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS are associated with PRS-IDs, e.g., as discussed at stage 3 or stage 6 of fig. 9. For example, the non-PRS may include at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof. For example, the positioning assistance data may define different accuracy and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS. An apparatus for receiving positioning assistance data may comprise a wireless transceiver 1010 and one or more processors 1002 having dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1004 and/or media 1020, such as a positioning session module 1022 and a non-PRS module 1024 in a UE1000 shown in fig. 10, the positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information related to Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) and a second set of information related to non-positioning reference signals (non-PRSs), wherein the non-PRSs are downlink or sidelink signals transmitted for positioning-independent purposes, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS identifiers are associated with PRS-IDs.

At block 1304, the ue may perform positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using non-PRS, e.g., as discussed at stage 8 of fig. 9. In one implementation, the positioning measurements may include first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS. For example, the positioning measurements may include second RSTD measurements, and the non-PRS for the second RSTD measurements may be a second type of non-PRS different from the first type of non-PRS. In one implementation, the positioning measurements may be multiple receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and different types of non-PRS may be used for these Rx-Tx measurements.

Means for performing positioning measurements based on positioning assistance data using non-PRS may include a wireless transceiver 1010 and one or more processors 1002 having dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1004 and/or media 1020, such as a positioning session module 1022 and a non-PRS module 1024 in a UE1000 shown in fig. 10.

At block 1306, the ue may send a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying non-PRS for positioning measurement using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS, e.g., as discussed at stage 9 of fig. 9. An apparatus for sending reports of measurement information to network nodes in a wireless network can include a wireless transceiver 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1004 and/or media 1020 (such as a positioning session module 1022 and a non-PRS module 1024 in a UE1000 shown in fig. 10) that identify non-PRSs for positioning measurements using PRS-IDs associated with the non-PRSs.

In one implementation, the positioning assistance data may be received from a location server, e.g., as discussed at stage 3 of fig. 9 and in fig. 7. For example, the non-PRS may include a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and the PRS-ID associated with the SSB may be provided in a SSB configuration information element. The non-PRS may include a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and a PRS-ID associated with the TRS may be provided in a TRS configuration information element. The non-PRS may include a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a PRS-ID associated with the CSI-RS may be provided in a CSI-RS configuration information element. The non-PRS may include a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and a PRS-ID associated with the DMRS may be provided in a DMRS configuration information element. The non-PRS may include a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and a PRS-ID associated with the PDCCH may be provided in a PDCCH configuration information element. In one implementation, the non-PRS may include a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDSCH may be provided in a PDSCH configuration information element that does not include a time or frequency allocation for the PDSCH. For example, the time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH may be selected by the serving base station.

In one implementation, an association of a non-PRS with a PRS-ID in positioning assistance data may be received from a serving base station.

In implementations, non-PRS may be configured within one or more dedicated sets of resources in positioning assistance data that are separate from the set of resources containing PRS configurations. The non-PRS may be configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data that are separate from the frequency layer containing the PRS configuration. The second set of information in the positioning assistance data relating to non-PRS may be configured within the same frequency layer as the first set of information relating to PRS. For example, non-PRS and PRS may have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof. The second set of information related to non-PRSs may be sets of signals, each set of signals including non-PRSs belonging to the same physical channel.

In one implementation, the UE may provide a capability report to a network entity indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using non-PRS, e.g., as discussed at stage 2 of fig. 9. Means for providing a capability report to a network entity, indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using non-PRS, may include a wireless transceiver 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1004 and/or media 1020, such as a positioning session module 1022 and a non-PRS module 1024 in the UE1000 shown in fig. 10. For example, the capability report may indicate that the UE supports frequency layers that perform positioning measurements using different non-PRS. For example, the capability report may indicate that the UE supports performing positioning measurements using different non-PRS in the frequency layer. For example, the capability report may indicate whether the UE supports reporting measurement information in a single report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Fig. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 1400 performed by a location server, such as location server 172, in a wireless network for supporting positioning of User Equipment (UE) in the wireless network, in a manner consistent with disclosed implementations.

At block 1402, a location server may obtain a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a PRS identifier (PRS-ID) list, and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, where the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for positioning independent purposes, where a UE receives the association of the non-PRS with the PRS-ID and uses the non-PRS to perform downlink or sidelink positioning measurements, e.g., as discussed at stage 3 or stage 5 of fig. 9. For example, the non-PRS may include at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof. Means for obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a PRS identifier (PRS-ID) list, and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID may include, for example, an external interface 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions (such as a positioning session module 1122 and a non-PRS module 1124 in a location server 1100 shown in fig. 11) in an implementation memory 1104 and/or medium 1120, where the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink PRS signal transmitted for positioning unrelated purposes, where the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with the PRS-ID and performs downlink or sidelink positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

At block 1404, the location server may receive a report of measurement information from the UE that identifies a non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS, e.g., as discussed at stage 9 of fig. 9. In one implementation, the positioning measurements may include first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS. For example, the positioning measurements may include a second RSTD measurement and the non-PRS for the second RSTD measurement is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS differs from the second type of non-PRS. In one implementation, the positioning measurements may include multiple receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and where different types of non-PRS are used for these Rx-Tx measurements. Means for receiving a report of measurement information from a UE may include, for example, the external interface 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1104 and/or media 1120 (such as a positioning session module 1122 and a non-PRS module 1124 in a location server 1100 shown in fig. 11) that identify a non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

In one implementation, the list of PRS-IDs and the association of non-PRS with PRS-IDs is obtained as positioning assistance data generated by a location server, and the location server may send the positioning assistance data to the UE, e.g., as discussed at stage 3 of fig. 9. In one implementation, the positioning assistance data defines different accuracy and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRSs. In one implementation, the non-PRS may include a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and the PRS-ID associated with the SSB may be provided in an SSB configuration information element. In one implementation, the non-PRS may include a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and a PRS-ID associated with the TRS may be provided in a TRS configuration information element. In one implementation, the non-PRS may include a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and the PRS-ID associated with the CSI-RS may be provided in a CSI-RS configuration information element. In one implementation, the non-PRS may include a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the DMRS may be provided in a DMRS configuration information element. In one implementation, the non-PRS may include a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDCCH may be provided in a PDCCH configuration information element. In one implementation, the non-PRS may include a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDSCH may be provided in a PDSCH configuration information element that does not include a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH. For example, the time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH may be selected by the serving base station. Means for transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE may include, for example, the external interface 1110 and the one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1104 and/or media 1120 (such as the positioning session module 1122 and the non-PRS module 1124 in the location server 1100 shown in fig. 11).

In one implementation, the association of the non-PRS and PRS-ID is obtained from a serving base station of the UE, where the serving base station sends the association of the non-PRS and PRS-ID to the UE, e.g., as discussed at stages 5 and 6.

In implementations, non-PRSs may be configured within one or more dedicated sets of resources in positioning assistance data that are separate from the set of resources containing the PRS configuration. The non-PRS may be configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data separate from the frequency layer containing the PRS configuration. The second set of information in the positioning assistance data relating to non-PRS is within the same frequency layer as the first set of information relating to PRS. For example, non-PRS and PRS have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof. The second set of information relating to non-PRSs includes sets of signals, each set of signals including non-PRSs belonging to the same physical channel.

In one implementation, a location server receives a capability report from a UE indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using non-PRS, e.g., as discussed at stage 2 of fig. 9. The capability report may indicate that the UE supports frequency layers that perform positioning measurements using different non-PRS. The capability report may indicate that the UE supports performing positioning measurements using different non-PRS in the frequency layer. The capability report may indicate whether the UE supports reporting measurement information in a single report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS. Means for receiving a capability report from a UE indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using non-PRS may include, for example, an external interface 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions (such as positioning session module 1122 and non-PRS module 1124 in location server 1100 shown in fig. 11) in memory 1104 and/or medium 1120.

Fig. 15 illustrates, in a manner consistent with the disclosed implementations, a flow diagram of an example method 1500 performed by a serving base station of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network, such as base station 102 shown in fig. 1, for supporting positioning of the UE in the wireless network.

At block 1502, the base station sends a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message including an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), which is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for positioning-independent purposes, with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), e.g., as discussed in stage 5 of fig. 9. For example, the non-PRS may include at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof. Means for sending a first message to a location server of a UE may include, for example, the wireless transceiver 1210 and the one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1204 and/or media 1220, such as positioning session module 1222 and non-PRS module 1224 in base station 1300 shown in fig. 13, the first message including an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for positioning unrelated purposes.

At block 1504, the base station transmits positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data including an association of a non-PRS with the PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS, e.g., as discussed at stage 6 of fig. 9. Means for transmitting positioning assistance data to a UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of a non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS, may include, for example, the wireless transceiver 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1204 and/or media 1220, such as a positioning session module 1222 and a non-PRS module 1224 in a base station 1300 shown in fig. 13.

In implementations, non-PRSs may be configured within one or more dedicated resource sets separate from the resource set containing the PRS configuration. The non-PRS may be configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers separate from the frequency layer containing the PRS configuration. The non-PRS may be configured within the same frequency layer as the PRS. For example, non-PRS and PRS may have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

Reference throughout this specification to "one example," "an example," "certain examples," or "an exemplary implementation" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the feature and/or example may be included in at least one feature and/or example of claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one example," "an example," "in certain examples," or "in certain implementations," or other similar phrases in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same feature, example, and/or limitation. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples and/or features.

Some portions of the detailed description included herein are presented in terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital signals stored within a memory of a specific apparatus or special purpose computing device or platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term specific apparatus or the like includes a general purpose computer once it is programmed to perform particular operations pursuant to instructions from program software. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by those skilled in the signal processing or related arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing leading to a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, though not necessarily, such quantities may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, values, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the discussion herein, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," or the like, refer to the action and processes of a specific apparatus, such as a special purpose computer, special purpose computing apparatus, or similar special purpose electronic computing device. In the context of this specification, therefore, a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typically represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities within memories, registers, or other information storage devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

In the above detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods and apparatus known to those of ordinary skill in the art have not been described in detail so as not to obscure claimed subject matter.

The terms "and," "or," and/or "as used herein may include a variety of meanings that are also contemplated depending, at least in part, on the context in which such terms are used. In general, "or" if used in connection with a list, such as a, B, or C, is intended to mean a, B, and C (the inclusive meaning used herein) and a, B, or C (the exclusive meaning used herein). In addition, the term "one or more" as used herein may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular or may be used to describe a plurality or some other combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example and claimed subject matter is not limited to this example.

While there has been illustrated and described what are presently considered to be example features, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted, without departing from claimed subject matter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter without departing from the central concept described herein.

In view of this description, embodiments may include different combinations of features. Various implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

Clause 1. A method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for supporting positioning of the UE in a wireless network, the method comprising: receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-unrelated purpose, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID; performing positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using a non-PRS; and sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying non-PRSs for the positioning measurements using PRS-IDs associated with the non-PRSs.

Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

Clause 3. The method of

clause

1 or 2, wherein the positioning assistance data is received from a location server.

Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein the non-PRS includes a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and the PRS-ID associated with the SSB is provided in a SSB configuration information element.

Clause 5. The method of clause 3, wherein the non-PRS includes a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the TRS is provided in a TRS configuration information element.

Clause 6. The method of clause 3, wherein the non-PRS includes a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and the PRS-ID associated with the CSI-RS is provided in a CSI-RS configuration information element.

Clause 7. The method of clause 3, wherein the non-PRS includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the DMRS is provided in a DMRS configuration information element.

Clause 8. The method of clause 3, wherein the non-PRS includes a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDCCH is provided in a PDCCH configuration information element.

Clause 9. The method of clause 3, wherein the non-PRS includes a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDSCH is provided in a PDSCH configuration information element that does not include a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH.

Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH is selected by the serving base station.

Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1-10, wherein the association of the non-PRS and the PRS-ID in the positioning assistance data is received from a serving base station.

Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1-11, wherein the non-PRS is configured in one or more dedicated resource sets in the positioning assistance data that are separate from a set of resources containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1-12, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data that are separate from the frequency layer containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1-13, wherein the second set of information in the positioning assistance data related to the non-PRS is configured within the same frequency layer as the first set of information related to the PRS.

Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 1-15, wherein the second set of information related to non-PRS includes sets of signals, each set of signals including non-PRS belonging to the same physical channel.

Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 1-16, wherein the positioning measurements include first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS used for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS.

The method of clause 18. The method of clause 17, wherein the positioning measurements comprise second RSTD measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the second RSTD measurements is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS is different from the second type of non-PRS.

Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 1-18, wherein the positioning measurements include a plurality of receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and wherein different types of non-PRS are used for the Rx-Tx measurements.

Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 1-19, further comprising providing a capability report to the network node indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using non-PRS.

Clause 21. The method of clause 20, wherein the capability report indicates that the UE supports frequency layers that perform positioning measurements using different non-PRS.

Clause 22. The method of clause 20, wherein the capability report indicates that the UE supports performing positioning measurements using different non-PRS in the frequency layer.

Clause 23. The method of clause 20, wherein the capability report indicates whether the UE supports reporting of measurement information in a single report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Clause 24. The method of any of clauses 1-23, wherein the positioning assistance data defines different accuracies and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Clause 25. A User Equipment (UE) configured to support locating the UE in a wireless network, the UE comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in the wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information relating to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information relating to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID; performing positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using the non-PRS; and sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for the positioning measurement using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

Clause 26. The UE of clause 25, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

Clause 27. The UE of any of clauses 25 or 26, wherein the positioning assistance data is received from a location server.

Clause 28. The UE of clause 27, wherein the non-PRS includes a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and the PRS-ID associated with the SSB is provided in a SSB configuration information element.

Clause 29. The UE of clause 27, wherein the non-PRS includes a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the TRS is provided in a TRS configuration information element.

Clause 30. The UE of clause 27, wherein the non-PRS includes a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and the PRS-ID associated with the CSI-RS is provided in a CSI-RS configuration information element.

The UE of clause 31. The UE of clause 27, wherein the non-PRS includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the DMRS is provided in a DMRS configuration information element.

Clause 32. The UE of clause 27, wherein the non-PRS includes a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDCCH is provided in a PDCCH configuration information element.

Clause 33. The UE of clause 27, wherein the non-PRS includes a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDSCH is provided in a PDSCH configuration information element that does not include a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH.

Clause 34. The UE of clause 33, wherein the time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH is selected by the serving base station.

Clause 35. The UE of any of clauses 25-34, wherein the association of the non-PRS and the PRS-ID in the positioning assistance data is received from a serving base station.

Clause 36. The UE of any of clauses 25-35, wherein the non-PRS is configured in the positioning assistance data within one or more dedicated resource sets separate from a resource set containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 37. The UE of any of clauses 25-36, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data separate from a frequency layer containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 38. The UE of any of clauses 25-37, wherein the second set of information in the positioning assistance data related to non-PRS is configured within the same frequency layer as the first set of information related to PRS.

Clause 39. The UE of clause 38, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

Clause 40. The UE of any of clauses 25-39, wherein the second set of information relating to non-PRSs comprises sets of signals, each set of signals comprising non-PRSs belonging to the same physical channel.

The UE of any of clauses 25-40, wherein the positioning measurements include first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS.

The UE of claim 41, wherein positioning measurements comprise second RSTD measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the second RSTD measurements is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS differs from the second type of non-PRS.

Clause 43. The UE of any one of clauses 25-42, wherein the positioning measurements include a plurality of receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and wherein different types of non-PRS are used for the Rx-Tx measurements.

Clause 44. The UE of any of clauses 25-43, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide a capability report to the network node indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

Clause 45. The UE of clause 44, wherein the capability report indicates that the UE supports frequency layers that perform positioning measurements using different non-PRS.

Clause 46. The UE of clause 44, wherein the capability report indicates that the UE supports performing positioning measurements using different non-PRS in the frequency layer.

Clause 47. The UE of clause 44, wherein the capability report indicates whether the UE supports reporting of measurement information in a single report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Clause 48. The UE of any of clauses 25-47, wherein the positioning assistance data defines different accuracies and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Clause 49. A User Equipment (UE) configured to support locating the UE in a wireless network, the UE comprising: means for receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information relating to Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and a second set of information relating to non-positioning reference signals (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for positioning-independent purposes, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID; and means for sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for the positioning measurement using the PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

Clause 50 a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a User Equipment (UE) to support locating the UE in a wireless network, the program code comprising instructions to: receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information relating to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information relating to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID; performing positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using the non-PRS; and sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for the positioning measurement using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

Clause 51. A method, performed by a location server in a wireless network, for supporting positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in the wireless network, the method comprising: obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a PRS identifier (PRS-ID) list, and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID and performs downlink positioning measurements using the non-PRS; and receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

Clause 52. The method of clause 51, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

Clause 53. The method of any of clauses 51 or 52, wherein the list of PRS-IDs and the association of the non-PRS and PRS-IDs is obtained as positioning assistance data generated by the location server, the method further comprising sending the positioning assistance data to the UE.

Clause 54. The method of clause 53, wherein the positioning assistance data defines different accuracies and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Clause 55. The method of any of clauses 53 or 54, wherein the non-PRS includes a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and the PRS-ID associated with the SSB is provided in a SSB configuration information element.

Clause 56. The method of any of clauses 53 or 54, wherein the non-PRS includes a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the TRS is provided in a TRS configuration information element.

Clause 57. The method of any of clauses 53 or 54, wherein the non-PRS includes a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and the PRS-ID associated with the CSI-RS is provided in a CSI-RS configuration information element.

The method of any of clauses 53 or 54, wherein the non-PRS includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the DMRS is provided in a DMRS configuration information element.

Clause 59. The method of any of clauses 53 or 54, wherein the non-PRS includes a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDCCH is provided in a PDCCH configuration information element.

Clause 60. The method of any of clauses 53 or 54, wherein the non-PRS includes a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDSCH is provided in a PDSCH configuration information element that does not include a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH.

Clause 61. The method of clause 60, wherein the time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH is selected by the serving base station.

Clause 62. The method of any of clauses 51-31, wherein the association of the non-PRS and PRS-ID is obtained from a serving base station of the UE, wherein the serving base station sends the association of the non-PRS and PRS-ID to the UE.

Clause 63. The method of any of clauses 51-62, wherein the non-PRS is configured in the positioning assistance data within one or more dedicated resource sets separate from a resource set containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 64. The method of any of clauses 51-63, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data that are separate from the frequency layer containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 65. The method of any of clauses 51-64, wherein the second set of information in the positioning assistance data related to non-PRS is configured within the same frequency layer as the first set of information related to PRS.

Clause 66. The method of clause 65, wherein the non-PRS and PRS have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

Clause 67. The method of any of clauses 51-66, wherein the second set of information related to non-PRS includes sets of signals, each set of signals including non-PRS belonging to the same physical channel.

Clause 68. The method of any of clauses 51-67, wherein the positioning measurements comprise first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS used for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS.

Clause 69 the method of clause 68, wherein the positioning measurements comprise second RSTD measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the second RSTD measurements is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS is different from the second type of non-PRS.

Clause 70. The method of any of clauses 51-69, wherein the positioning measurements include a plurality of receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and wherein different types of non-PRS are used for the Rx-Tx measurements.

Clause 71. The method of any one of clauses 51-70, further comprising receiving a capability report from the UE indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using non-PRS.

Clause 72. The method of clause 71, wherein the capability report indicates that the UE supports frequency layers that perform positioning measurements using different non-PRS.

Clause 73. The method of clause 71, wherein the capability report indicates that the UE supports performing positioning measurements using different non-PRS in the frequency layer.

Clause 74. The method of clause 71, wherein the capability report indicates whether the UE supports reporting of measurement information in a single measurement report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Clause 75. A location server configured to support positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the location server comprising: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a PRS identifier (PRS-ID) list, and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID and performs downlink positioning measurements using the non-PRS; and receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

Clause 76. The location server of clause 75, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

Clause 77. The location server of any of clauses 75 or 76, wherein the list of PRS-IDs and the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID is obtained as positioning assistance data generated by the location server, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send the positioning assistance data to the UE, and the non-PRS comprises one of:

clause 78. The location server of clause 77, wherein the positioning assistance data defines different accuracy and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Clause 79. The location server of any of clauses 77 or 78, wherein the non-PRS includes a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and the PRS-ID associated with the SSB is provided in a SSB configuration information element.

Clause 80. The location server of any of clauses 77 or 78, wherein the non-PRS includes a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the TRS is provided in a TRS configuration information element.

Clause 81. The location server of any of clauses 77 or 78, wherein the non-PRS includes a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and the PRS-ID associated with the CSI-RS is provided in a CSI-RS configuration information element.

Clause 82. The location server of any of clauses 77 or 78, wherein the non-PRS includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the PRS-ID associated with the DMRS is provided in a DMRS configuration information element.

Clause 83. The location server of any of clauses 77 or 78, wherein the non-PRS includes a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDCCH is provided in a PDCCH configuration information element.

Clause 84. The location server of any of clauses 77 or 78, wherein the non-PRS includes a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and the PRS-ID associated with the PDSCH is provided in a PDSCH configuration information element that does not include a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH.

Clause 85. The location server of clause 84, wherein the time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH is selected by the serving base station.

Clause 86. The location server of any of clauses 75-85, wherein the association of the non-PRS and PRS-ID is obtained from a serving base station of the UE, wherein the serving base station sends the association of the non-PRS and PRS-ID to the UE.

Clause 87. The location server of any of clauses 75-86, wherein the non-PRS is configured in one or more dedicated resource sets in the positioning assistance data separate from the set of resources containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 88. The location server of any of clauses 75-87, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data that are separate from the frequency layer containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 89 the location server of any of clauses 75-88, wherein the second set of information in the positioning assistance data related to non-PRS is configured within the same frequency layer as the first set of information related to PRS.

Clause 90. The location server of clause 89, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

Clause 91. The location server of any of clauses 75-90, wherein the second set of information relating to non-PRSs comprises sets of signals, each set of signals comprising non-PRSs belonging to the same physical channel.

Clause 92. The location server of any of clauses 75-91, wherein the positioning measurements comprise first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS used for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS.

Clause 93. The location server of clause 92, wherein the positioning measurements comprise second RSTD measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the second RSTD measurements is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS is different from the second type of non-PRS.

Clause 94. The location server of any one of clauses 75-93, wherein the positioning measurements comprise a plurality of receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and wherein different types of non-PRS are used for the Rx-Tx measurements.

Clause 95. The location server of any of clauses 75-94, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a capability report from the UE indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

Clause 96. The location server of clause 95, wherein the capability report indicates that the UE supports frequency layers that perform positioning measurements using different non-PRS.

Clause 97. The location server of clause 95, wherein the capability report indicates that the UE supports performing positioning measurements using different non-PRS in the frequency layer.

Clause 98. The location server of clause 95, wherein the capability report indicates whether the UE supports reporting measurement information in a single measurement report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

Clause 99. A location server in a wireless network for supporting positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in the wireless network, comprising: means for obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a PRS identifier (PRS-ID) list, and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with the PRS-ID and performs a downlink positioning measurement using the non-PRS; and means for receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

Clause 100. A non-transitory storage medium including program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a location server in a wireless network to support locating a User Equipment (UE) in the wireless network, the program code comprising instructions for: obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-unrelated purpose, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID and performs a downlink positioning measurement using the non-PRS; and receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

Clause 101. A method performed by a serving base station of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network for supporting positioning of the UE in the wireless network, the method comprising: sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message including an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

Clause 102. The method of clause 101, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

Clause 103. The method of any of clauses 101 or 102, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated resource sets separate from a resource set containing a PRS configuration.

Clause 104. The method of any one of clauses 101-103, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers separate from a frequency layer containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 105. The method of any one of clauses 101-104, wherein the non-PRS is configured within the same frequency layer as the PRS.

Clause 106. The method of clause 105, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

Clause 107. A base station configured to support positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network, comprising: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message including an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

Clause 108. The base station of clause 107, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

Clause 109. The base station of any of clauses 107 or 108, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated resource sets separate from a resource set containing a PRS configuration.

Clause 110. The base station of any of clauses 107-109, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers separate from a frequency layer containing the PRS configuration.

Clause 111. The base station of any of clauses 107-110, wherein the non-PRS is configured within a same frequency layer as the PRS.

Clause 112. The base station of clause 111, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have the same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

Clause 113. A serving base station of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network for supporting locating the UE in the wireless network, comprising: means for sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message comprising an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and means for transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

Clause 114. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor of a serving base station of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network to support positioning of the UE in the wireless network, the program code comprising instructions to: sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message including an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

Therefore, it is intended that the claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that the claimed subject matter may also include all aspects falling within the scope of the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for supporting positioning of the UE in a wireless network, the method comprising:

receiving positioning assistance data comprising a first set of information relating to Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and a second set of information relating to non-positioning reference signals (non-PRS), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, the positioning assistance data further comprising a list of PRS identifiers (PRS-IDs), wherein the non-PRS is associated with a PRS-ID;

performing positioning measurements based on the positioning assistance data using the non-PRS; and

sending a report of measurement information to a network node in the wireless network, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for the positioning measurement using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning assistance data is received from a location server, and the non-PRS comprises one of:

a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and a PRS-ID associated with the SSB is provided in an SSB configuration information element; or

Tracking a reference signal (TRS), and a PRS-ID associated with the TRS is provided in a TRS configuration information element; or

A channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a PRS-ID associated with the CSI-RS is provided in a CSI-RS configuration information element;

demodulating a reference Signal (DMRS), and a PRS-ID associated with the DMRS is provided in a DMRS configuration information element; or

A Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and a PRS-ID associated with the PDCCH is provided in a PDCCH configuration information element; or

A Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and a PRS-ID associated with the PDSCH is provided in a PDSCH configuration information element that does not include a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the non-PRS comprises the PDSCH, and wherein a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH is selected by a serving base station.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the association of the non-PRS and PRS-ID in the positioning assistance data is received from a serving base station.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated resource sets in the positioning assistance data separate from a resource set containing a PRS configuration.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data separate from a frequency layer containing a PRS configuration.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of information related to the non-PRS in the positioning assistance data is configured within a same frequency layer as the first set of information related to the PRS.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have a same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of information related to the non-PRS comprises sets of signals, each set of signals comprising non-PRS belonging to a same physical channel.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning measurements comprise first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the positioning measurements comprise second RSTD measurements, and wherein the non-PRS used for the second RSTD measurements is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS is different from the second type of non-PRS.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning measurements comprise a plurality of receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and wherein different types of non-PRS are used for the Rx-Tx measurements.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a capability report to the network node indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using the non-PRS, and wherein the capability report indicates at least one of:

the UE supports frequency layers that perform positioning measurements using different non-PRSs;

the UE supports performing positioning measurements using different non-PRSs in a frequency layer;

whether the UE supports reporting measurement information in a single report for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRSs.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning assistance data defines different accuracy and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRSs.

16. A User Equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of the UE in a wireless network, the UE comprising:

a wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in the wireless network;

at least one memory;

at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

18. The UE of claim 16, wherein the positioning assistance data is received from a location server, and the non-PRS comprises one of:

a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and a PRS-ID associated with the SSB is provided in an SSB configuration information element; or alternatively

Tracking a reference signal (TRS), and a PRS-ID associated with the TRS is provided in a TRS configuration information element; or alternatively

19. The UE of claim 18, wherein the non-PRS includes the PDSCH, and wherein a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH is selected by a serving base station.

20. The UE of claim 16, wherein the association of the non-PRS and PRS-ID in the positioning assistance data is received from a serving base station.

21. The UE of claim 16, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated sets of resources in the positioning assistance data that are separate from a set of resources containing a PRS configuration.

22. The UE of claim 16, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data separate from a frequency layer containing a PRS configuration.

23. The UE of claim 16, wherein the second set of information related to the non-PRS in the positioning assistance data is configured within a same frequency layer as the first set of information related to the PRS.

24. The UE of claim 23, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have a same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

25. The UE of claim 16, wherein the second set of information related to the non-PRS includes sets of signals, each set of signals including non-PRS belonging to a same physical channel.

26. The UE of claim 16, wherein the positioning measurements comprise first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS.

27. The UE of claim 26, wherein the positioning measurement comprises a second RSTD measurement, and wherein the non-PRS for the second RSTD measurement is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS is different than the second type of non-PRS.

28. The UE of claim 16 wherein the positioning measurements comprise a plurality of receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and wherein different types of non-PRS are used for the Rx-Tx measurements.

29. The UE of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide a capability report to the network node indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using the non-PRS, and wherein the capability report indicates at least one of:

30. The UE of claim 16, wherein the positioning assistance data defines different accuracy and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

31. A method performed by a location server in a wireless network for supporting positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in the wireless network, the method comprising:

obtaining a first set of information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a second set of information related to a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS), a PRS identifier (PRS-ID) list, and an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose, wherein the UE receives the association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID and performs downlink positioning measurements using the non-PRS; and

receiving a report of measurement information from the UE, the measurement information identifying the non-PRS for positioning measurements performed by the UE using a PRS-ID associated with the non-PRS.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the non-PRS includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the list of PRS-IDs and the association of the non-PRS with PRS-IDs are obtained as positioning assistance data generated by the location server, the method further comprising sending the positioning assistance data to the UE, and the non-PRS comprises one of:

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the positioning assistance data defines different accuracy and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRS.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the non-PRS includes the PDSCH, and wherein a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH is selected by a serving base station.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein the non-PRS to PRS-ID association is obtained from a serving base station of the UE, wherein the serving base station sends the non-PRS to PRS-ID association to the UE.

37. The method of claim 31, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated resource sets in the positioning assistance data separate from a resource set containing a PRS configuration.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data separate from a frequency layer containing a PRS configuration.

39. The method of claim 31, wherein the second set of information in the positioning assistance data related to the non-PRS is within a same frequency layer as the first set of information related to the PRS.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have a same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

41. The method of claim 31, wherein the second set of information related to the non-PRS includes sets of signals, each set of signals including non-PRS belonging to a same physical channel.

42. The method of claim 31, wherein the positioning measurements comprise first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS for the first RSTD measurement is a first type of non-PRS.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the positioning measurement comprises a second RSTD measurement, and wherein the non-PRS used for the second RSTD measurement is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS is different from the second type of non-PRS.

44. The method of claim 31 wherein the positioning measurements comprise a plurality of receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and wherein different types of non-PRS are used for the Rx-Tx measurements.

45. The method of claim 31, further comprising receiving a capability report from the UE indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using the non-PRS, and wherein the capability report indicates at least one of:

46. A location server configured to support positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the location server comprising:

an external interface configured to communicate with an entity in the wireless network;

at least one memory;

at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

47. The location server of claim 46, wherein the non-PRS comprises at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

48. The location server of claim 46, wherein the list of PRS-IDs and the association of the non-PRS and PRS-IDs is obtained as positioning assistance data generated by the location server, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send the positioning assistance data to the UE, and the non-PRS comprises one of:

a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and a PRS-ID associated with the DMRS is provided in a DMRS configuration information element; or alternatively

A Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and a PRS-ID associated with the PDCCH is provided in a PDCCH configuration information element; or alternatively

49. The location server of claim 48, wherein the positioning assistance data defines different accuracy and different periodicity requirements for positioning measurements generated using different types of non-PRSs.

50. The location server of claim 48, wherein the non-PRS comprises the PDSCH, and wherein a time or frequency allocation of the PDSCH is selected by a serving base station.

51. The location server of claim 46, wherein the non-PRS and PRS-ID association is obtained from a serving base station of the UE, wherein the serving base station sends the non-PRS and PRS-ID association to the UE.

52. The location server of claim 46, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more sets of dedicated resources in the positioning assistance data separate from a set of resources containing a PRS configuration.

53. The location server of claim 46, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers in the positioning assistance data that are separate from a frequency layer containing a PRS configuration.

54. The location server of claim 46, wherein the second set of information in the positioning assistance data related to the non-PRS is within a same frequency layer as the first set of information related to the PRS.

55. The location server of claim 54, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have a same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

56. The location server of claim 46, wherein the second set of information related to the non-PRS comprises sets of signals, each set of signals comprising a non-PRS belonging to a same physical channel.

57. The location server of claim 46, wherein the positioning measurements comprise first Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements, and wherein the non-PRS used for the first RSTD measurements is a first type of non-PRS.

58. The location server of claim 57, wherein the positioning measurements comprise second RSTD measurements, and wherein the non-PRS used for the second RSTD measurements is a second type of non-PRS, wherein the first type of non-PRS is different from the second type of non-PRS.

59. The location server of claim 46, wherein the positioning measurements comprise a plurality of receive time minus transmit time (Rx-Tx) measurements, and wherein different types of non-PRSs are used for the Rx-Tx measurements.

60. The location server of claim 46, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a capability report from the UE indicating that the UE is capable of performing positioning measurements using the non-PRS, and wherein the capability report indicates at least one of:

61. A method performed by a serving base station of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network for supporting positioning of the UE in the wireless network, the method comprising:

sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message comprising an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for positioning-independent purposes; and

transmitting positioning assistance data to the UE, the positioning assistance data comprising an association of the non-PRS with a PRS-ID, wherein the UE performs positioning measurements using the non-PRS.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the non-PRS comprises at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

63. The method of claim 61, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated resource sets separate from a resource set containing a PRS configuration.

64. The method of claim 61, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers separate from a frequency layer containing a PRS configuration.

65. The method of claim 61, wherein the non-PRS is configured within a same frequency layer as PRS.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have a same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.

67. A base station configured to support positioning of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the base station comprising:

an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with an entity in the wireless network;

at least one memory;

sending a first message to a location server of the UE, the first message comprising an association of a non-positioning reference signal (non-PRS) with a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) identifier (PRS-ID), wherein the non-PRS is a downlink or sidelink signal transmitted for a positioning-independent purpose; and

68. The base station of claim 67, wherein the non-PRS comprises at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), or a combination thereof.

69. The base station of claim 67, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated resource sets separate from a set of resources containing a PRS configuration.

70. The base station of claim 67, wherein the non-PRS is configured within one or more dedicated frequency layers separate from a frequency layer containing PRS configurations.

71. The base station of claim 67, wherein the non-PRS is configured within a same frequency layer as a PRS.

72. The base station of claim 71, wherein the non-PRS and the PRS have a same center frequency and parameter design but differ in at least one of: bandwidth, starting physical resource block (startPRB), and comb, or a combination thereof.